The Facility Endgame
by OfficerKennedy
Summary: Repost. Although Wesker is gone, Leon and Chris still have one more facility to take care of.
1. Chapter 1

Notes:-  So, for those of you who are wondering, this story was deleted by the site and I'm not entirely sure why. I'm going to upload it all again and hope that it stays up this time! Thank you to everyone who took the time to write me a review telling me how much they liked the story. It's sad that your reviews went with the original upload but I'm grateful for your words!

The Facility Endgame

Chapter One

Leon Kennedy leant against the smooth white wall and looked down at the bay below him. The water was a breathtaking clear blue, sunlight sprinkled across its surface like silver glitter. It was calm and unmoving, untouched by the tourists that flocked to the country on a daily basis. A small strip of sand nudged up to the water's edge, creating a small beach. He was looking forward to walking along it later.

The wall he was leaning against was built into a large hill that lead down to the bay. Covered in slightly yellowed, patchy grass and dotted with the odd bushy green tree, it was relatively untouched by mankind. Atop this hill was a small, traditional style chapel with clean white walls and a terracotta roof. A couple of flights of stairs lead down to the wall. Leon turned around to observe the building. It had a large, dark oak door and above that, a large brown circle of marble built into the wall. A small bell tower with a grey slate roof and a golden bell were the only giveaway to it being a place of religion. It was perfect.

He walked up the couple of flights of stairs, holding onto the black handrail, and took a deep breath before pushing open the oak door. He entered into a small porch area, painted white with a stone tiled floor and grinned at the man he found there waiting for him.

"Thanks for organising this Dennis, it's beautiful," He said, shaking Dennis' hand. The older man smiled back at him whilst adjusting the lapel of his charcoal grey suit.

"Not a problem at all" Dennis replied. "I'm just glad I could be of service"

"Hey, cut the formal shit Dennis! You're with us now"! A voice from the other side of the porch said. Chris had appeared from the other side of a small oak door and grinned at Dennis and Leon. Leon sighed heavily. Leave it to Chris to swear in a church. Although, he couldn't help admiring how the older man's navy blue suit made him look. It was cut perfectly, showing off his impressive body and had been paired, no doubt with Maria's help, with an expensive looking dark grey shirt. Maria was Dennis' wife and had agreed to help Chris find something suitable. She'd done a good job. A very good job.

"Where's your tie"? Leon asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Ugh do I have to wear one"? Chris whined.

"It's our wedding day"! Leon protested. He was wearing his own navy blue suit but had paired it, completely by himself, with a wine red shirt and a thin navy tie. His black dress shoes were polished and his hair was styled and glossy.

"Exactly" Chris complained, running a hand through his messily spiked hair. "I don't want to spend the happiest day of my life feeling like I'm stuck in a gallows" As if to emphasise his point, Chris undid the top button of his shirt. Leon sighed. He supposed he couldn't argue with that logic. He wasn't exactly comfortable either but he was more used to wearing this sort of stuff than Chris who was, and probably always had been, a dedicated jeans and t-shirt man.

"Are you two ready"? Maria appeared from the same door as Chris, looking resplendent in a pink silk dress that went with Dennis' charcoal grey perfectly. Her black hair was a halo of soft curls and she was proudly wearing the silver heart-shaped locket that Dennis had bought her for their first wedding anniversary. "The minister is ready for you." She continued in her strong Spanish accent.

Chris nodded and planted a kiss on Leon's forehead. Leon smiled happily; feeling a slight pang as he thought about the one person he felt should be here on their wedding day. Two years had passed since Sherry's death but she was still very much a fixture in his head. He'd have loved her to be here right now, sharing his special day. He pushed the feelings back down, concentrating on the fact that he was about to marry the man he loved with someone who he considering to be his closest friend at his side.

As it happened, Dennis and Maria were the only ones, besides the minister of course, who would be their to witness their civil partnership. They hadn't originally planned to get married in Spain but as it was the place where they first met, it seemed like a good idea. Their original plan was for them to marry in America, with their friends and family present. When Leon agreed to marry Chris, he hadn't banked on Jill and Claire. Well, Jill and Claire's input to be more precise. As soon as he and Chris had told everyone about the proposal, Jill and Claire became a whirlwind of joint activity. They'd descended on the apartment with stacks of wedding magazines and spoke in excited tones about cakes, clothes, photographers, flowers and wedding china. He and Chris had agreed fairly early on that all they wanted was a nice, simple wedding, not some over the top flashy fairytale event. That sort of thing just wasn't their style.

They'd both tried to express this to Jill and Claire but the woman had been relentless in their plans. Eventually, after listening to them talk for two solid hours about what song would be perfect for their first dance, Leon had had the idea of running away to get married. They wouldn't tell anyone where they were going, they would just run away, have a nice holiday somewhere and return married. They knew that Jill and, particularly Claire, would be unhappy about it but they'd thought, what the hell, it wasn't their wedding and no doubt they would be forgiven eventually.

And this was what had led them to Spain. They'd called Dennis who had been brilliant. Helping them to find and book the church and allowing them use of the same holiday home in which Chris had proposed. Maria had also been invaluable, taking Chris on shopping trips to find his suit and arranging a minister to marry them. They were going to have the wedding they wanted, quiet and intimate, and Leon couldn't wait.

A loud, insistent trilling suddenly filled the small porch. All eyes turned to Chris who smiled sheepishly and rummaged around in his pocket before pulling out his PDA. He pressed a button and held it to his ear.

"You answered it"? Leon hissed incredulously.

"It's the BSAA emergency number," Chris mouthed back. Leon let out a growl of frustration. He was about to snatch the damn thing from his lover's hand when another ringing noise filled the porch. This time, a ring that was horribly familiar. It was his own PDA. Ignoring Chris' smug look, Leon pulled the thing out of his pocket and checked the screen. Another one of the BSAA's emergency numbers. If they were both being called, it was bound to be serious. Dennis and Maria watched in confusion as he answered the call.

Shortly after the events of Antarctica, Leon had been released from the Government's employ. They'd been in contact with his therapist and were concerned about his mental state after Sherry's untimely death. Wanting to leave his post anyway, Leon hadn't argued when his superiors had told him they didn't think he was up to the job anymore. He'd been released just like that, with nothing more than a pat on the back and a thank you for his years of service and hard work.

His freedom from the government had given him the opportunity to do what he'd decided he'd wanted to do shortly after meeting Chris. Join the BSAA. The more he'd found out about it and the sort of work they did, the more it seemed like an appealing choice of career. There weren't as many regulations and restraints as the Secret Service and he was working with a great bunch of people that he'd gotten to know well since becoming a part of Chris' life. For the past year he'd been mainly doing administrative, office based work, which Barry Burton had insisted he do until he was done with his therapy sessions. Leon didn't mind. It meant he could finish at the same time every evening and he could spend more time at home with Chris who was taking an extended break.

The call consisted of a voice message from Barry himself. Apparently there was to be an emergency meeting at his cabin in Canada. His grave voice explained that something major had happened and that he was to head to Canada as soon as possible. The message ended and Leon hung up with a heavy heart. Judging by the expression on Chris' face, he felt exactly the same.

"So much for getting married huh"? He said disappointedly. Leon nodded. He knew that they could just get married and then go to Canada but it wouldn't feel right knowing that their friends and colleagues were sitting around waiting for them. Barry wasn't the sort of person who would create a storm in a teacup. When he called you into action it was for something serious, something big.

"What's going on"? Maria asked with a frown. "The minister is waiting…"

"We're going to have to rearrange" Leon said sadly. "Work commitments"

"Not a problem" Dennis replied, giving Leon a sympathetic pat on the back. "I understand" He gave him an encouraging nod. "We can sort this out later"

"Thanks Dennis" Leon replied gratefully. He knew that Dennis would understand. He, like Leon, was dedicated to the causes that he believed in and that, as hard as it was to do so, your personal life had to take a back seat when important things cropped up. Maria nodded too, obviously still perplexed but disappeared back into the church, no doubt to explain the situation to the minister.

Leon hadn't even noticed that Chris had left the entrance porch until the older man came back. He'd been back in the church and was clutching a pair of bright red skater trainers, a grin spreading across his face.

"What the-"? Leon started to say before he pretty much got his explanation. Chris quickly removed the black dress shoes he was wearing and slipped his feet into the trainers. He held the shoes aloft, a disgusted look crossing his features.

"Thank fuck for that"! He said triumphantly, miming relaxation as he jiggled about in his new footwear.

"You brought trainers to the church"?

"Course I did" Chris replied simply. "Hid them under the first pew" He'd obviously noticed the reproachful look he was being given as he said petulantly. "The shoes were too tight"!

"Our wedding's just been cancelled and you're bothered about what's on your feet"? Leon demanded, crossing his arms across his chest.

"No"! Chris' voice was shrill and defensive. "Of course I'm bothered that we're not getting married. But I know that we will someday and that's enough for me" He pulled Leon close and kissed him. "Someday soon, I promise" He kissed him again. "Love you Agent Honeybunch"

"What did I tell you about that name"? Leon moaned, breaking their embrace. "Anyway, I'm not even a secret agent anymore so it doesn't work" He narrowed his eyes. "Oaf"

"Yeah, but you're a BSSA Agent now, so it does" Chris replied cheekily as he winked at Leon. He picked up his shoes and thrust them into Dennis' arms. "As a thank you for everything you've done" He said by way of explanation.

Chris couldn't help but feel disappointed that he was returning to America minus a husband. As they boarded the plane that took them back to the US, then the helicopter that took them to Canada and finally the rental jeep that would take them up in the mountains to Barry's cabin, Chris realised just how badly he wanted Leon as his husband. Not that he didn't want it before of course, he'd pretty much decided that he was going to propose when he saw how well Leon had handled himself in Antarctica.

Chris shuddered at the memories. Unlike Leon, he hadn't opted to see a therapist. He'd been passed about between therapists like some kind of demented parcel when he was younger and he wasn't keen to repeat the experience again. Instead, he'd chosen to talk about his fears and worries with Leon and it had cemented their already solid relationship. Never before had Chris felt like he could be so open and honest with another person and have someone being open and honest in return. He looked over at Leon who was now leaning back in the Jeep's passenger seat, fast asleep. He didn't blame him. They'd been travelling for the best part of a day and darkness had fallen a couple of hours ago. It had taken god knows how many months for Leon to sleep and not be disturbed by brutal nightmares of Sherry's fatal fall.

As he drove through the seemingly endless rows of pine trees, he couldn't help but wonder why Barry had called this meeting. Barry wasn't the type of person who would make a fuss about nothing. He was the most experienced out of everyone Chris knew and in his voicemail he'd sounded horribly urgent. What made the situation especially worse was that Barry had arranged for the meeting to be at his cabin. He'd moved to Canada shortly after the events of the Spencer Mansion and as well as a big family home, he'd also purchased a small log cabin up in the mountains which, if you asked his wife, was where he stayed when he went hunting. Ask anyone who really knew and they would tell you it served as a base of operations for the BSAA.

For a fleeting second, the knot of worry in Chris' stomach tightened. His first instinct on hearing Barry's message was that it something to do with Wesker. It was only afterwards, on their flight back from Spain when he realised how ridiculous that was. Wesker was dead. Leon had killed him. He, Chris, had been there whilst Leon had chopped the evil man's body into multiple pieces with an axe salvaged from a fire cabinet. Whatever Wesker had been infected with, or however strong and inhuman he might've been, there was no coming back from that sort of death. Particularly since the BSAA had blown the facility sky high shortly afterwards.

As he rolled into the small gravel driveway of Barry's cabin, he felt the knot in his stomach loosen. Wesker was dead. It felt good to know. After years and years of chasing him, they'd finally ended things. Whatever this news Barry had to impart, Chris felt he would be able to deal with it.

Opening the door into Barry's cabin was like opening the door into a peaceful, cosy, long ago time that busy city life seemed to have forgotten. In the centre of the back wall, a large fire crackled in the fireplace, embers occasionally escaping the black grating and landing on the thick maroon rug in front of it. The solid oak mantelpiece had some of Barry's personal belongings on top. Silver framed family photos of his wife and children and one of the old S.T.A.R.S Alpha Team minus, of course, Wesker. The grey stone chimneybreast reached all the way to the ceiling, nestling between two heavy wooden beams.

Arranged around the fireplace and against one of the other dark brown walls, was a pair of old maroon armchairs and a sofa made from cord material. The fabric was bald and faded in patches and it was obvious that the set had, at one point, taken pride of place in the lounge of Barry's house before migrating up to the cabin once replaced by his wife.

Against the other wall was a set of stairs that led to the second floor, more family photos lined up on the wall, this time of his daughter's respective graduation ceremonies. In the centre of the room was a large oak coffee table, which, at this present moment in time, held cups of coffee and a few gun magazines, lazily spread out over the surface. After a few hours of travelling on planes and then the jeep, the cabin was a welcoming sight.

"Leon! Chris"! Before Leon could do or say anything, a warm pair of arms had descended on him. Dressed in a soft green jumper and dark blue jeans, Claire enveloped him in a hug. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before releasing him and doing the same to Chris who hugged her back just as hard.

"Hey Sis" He grinned widely at her. "You've fatter than ever"! He exclaimed, motioning down at her heavily pregnant stomach. She frowned at him and stroked it defensively.

"Thanks for that" Another familiar, sardonic voice spoke up. Claire's husband, Kevin Ryman, was sitting in one of the armchairs, rolling his eyes expressively but smiling all the same. "I've spent the last seven months convincing her it's a natural and beautiful thing and you've just gone and undone it in four words"

Chris gave Claire an apologetic kiss before shrugged easily and hitting Kevin playfully on the shoulder. Kevin was tall and well built, not as muscular and large and Chris, but still capable of holding his own. He had dark, chocolate brown hair that, according to him, had once been longer than Leon's but was now short and spiked. There was a slight smattering of stubble across his jaw and around his mouth.

"Still working the designer stubble look are we Ryman"? Chris said, throwing himself into one of the free armchairs.

"Someone's got to show you how it's done Redfield" Kevin replied easily. He turned his attentions to Leon. "Alright Kennedy"?

"Will you stop with the surnames there"? Chris fired back. "My name's not Redfield, it's Chris and the guy with the butt that won't quit over there? His name is Leon," He continued haughtily. "You don't see me calling you Ryman"

"You just did" Kevin pointed out as Leon settled into the other armchair. Chris appeared wrong-footed but only for a moment as he quickly bounced back.

"Whatever you say Kev" He said with a casual shrug. Claire caught Leon's eye and gave him a withering look that said 'They're-at-it-again'. An outsider wouldn't have guessed that these two guys actually liked each other and that Chris had been Kevin's best man at his wedding to Claire.

"What is it with you Redfield"? Kevin asked, taking great care to enunciate Chris' surname with expression. "You always seem to be able to instantly figure out what annoys someone and you stick to it. It's like you've got some innate ability to do it"

"What can I say"? Chris shrugged and put his feet up, still in their bright red skater trainers, on the coffee table. "Where's Big Fat Barry"? He asked, looking around for any sign of his former S.T.A.R.S colleague.

"On the phone to his wife" Claire answered, taking a seat next to Kevin who put an arm around her protectively. "Kathy thinks he's on another hunting trip"

"I'd love to hear you call him that to his face" Kevin smirked at Chris. "He'd snap you like a twig and man, what I wouldn't give to have a front seat ticket to that particular show" He snorted. "So Kennedy, since you're the one in the relationship who actually has a knowledge of how to behave in social situations, you got any idea why we're here"?

"Nothing more than that it's important," Leon replied. He liked Kevin a lot and although he hadn't really gotten to know him well, he knew he was a good guy to have around in a crisis. Another survivor of Raccoon City, Kevin was actually supposed to have worked with him as part of the then newly formed Special Police Force Chief Irons had created to replace the recently disbanded S.T.A.R.S. After the incident Kevin had spent some time working as a cop in Miami where he'd met Claire in a chance encounter whilst she was doing some fieldwork for Terrasave. They'd dated for a while and finally married last year.

"Chris! Leon! Excellent, you made it" Barry appeared in the log archway that led to the cabin's small yet comfortable kitchen area. He was wearing a red-checked shirt tucked into blue jeans with a black leather belt. According to Chris, Barry hadn't changed much since his S.T.A.R.S days. He was heavier and a little more lined and had grey hair dusting his jowls and smattering his hair but he still cut an impressive and formidable figure, easily towering over most in the room. "We're just waiting on Jill and Carlos and then I can start explaining why I've dragged you all here"

"Since we've got to hang around a bit longer" Kevin smiled evilly. "Redfield's got a new nickname for you, isn't that right?" He added teasingly, grinning at Chris who'd suddenly begun to look rather uncomfortable and shifty.

"Really"? Barry asked with a raised eyebrow. He folded his arms across his wide chest and stared at Chris. "What nickname would that be"? His tone was not of genuine interest, more of a retired sort of attitude that Leon supposed came from dealing with Chris for years.

"Bad Ass Barry" Chris said smoothly, although he looked a little nervous. "The baddest man in the whole damn town…" He added after a moment's frantic deliberation. "It's not very respectful of the man to call him fat now is it Kev"? He paused for a moment as if truly relishing his revenge. "Shame on you" He shook his head as if in disgust.

Barry sighed heavily and muttered something under his breath. It was obvious that he was used to Chris and had grown far beyond bothering to correct him or rebuke him in any way. Instead he disappeared back into the kitchen and reappeared a few minutes later with a bottle of brandy and a few glasses, and some juice for Claire, which he laid out on the coffee table in front of them.

"So, what were you two up to"? Claire asked Leon, taking a proffered glass of apple juice. She sipped it gratefully. "Barry said you were in Spain"

"Holiday" Leon answered just as Chris answered 'Business'. They looked at each other sheepishly. They hadn't really discussed what to tell people if they asked. Obviously, Leon had made sure they'd changed out of their wedding suits and back into regular jeans and hooded tops but they'd both hoped that the question wouldn't come up. Both of them should've really known better though when it concerned Claire. "A business holiday" Leon corrected himself, suddenly showing interest in the photographs along the mantelpiece so that he could avoid Claire's probing eyes.

Luckily, a distraction came in the form of the cabin's front door opening. A very cold looking Jill Valentine entered the room, wearing dark jeans and a tight, red, fur-trimmed coat, a matching red woollen hat crammed over her head. Her cheeks and nose were bright red with the cold. As she was closing the front door, Carlos came in behind her, having to quickly put his hand against the wood to avoid it slamming in his face. He looked equally as cold in his black jeans and black leather jacket, an olive green scarf tied around his neck, his brown, floppy hair dotted with snowflakes.

Leon couldn't figure out what it was, but the mood seemed to have instantly changed following Jill and Carlos' entrance. Normally a very happy couple, the pair seemed to be acting differently. The others had obviously picked up on this notable difference too as they were all shifting somewhat uncomfortably in their seats due to the sudden silence that had descended. Thankfully, Carlos broke it first.

"Hi everyone" He greeted with what seemed to be forced cheerfulness. He looked over at Claire and smiled. "Hola Claire" He added sleazily. Claire simply rolled her eyes but Kevin's arm tightened around her.

"You make eyes at my wife Oliveira and it'll be the last thing you do" Kevin warned with only a slight hint of good nature behind it.

"Fear not Compadre"! Carlos replied, holding his hands up. "Why do I need to look at other ladies when I have the lovely Jill at my side!" He turned around and smiled at Jill, thus acknowledging her for the first time since their arrival. She shook her head and pushed past him to sit on the sofa beside Claire looking decidedly unamused.

"Give it up" Jill said with a tired sigh.

Oblivious to the obvious awkward atmosphere between Jill and Carlos, Barry drained the contents of his glass before standing up and making his way over to the fireplace. The already silent room turned to face him as he began to speak.

"I won't beat about the bush. For a while now, a small contingent of our British BSAA members have been watching a spot on the North Sea on the edge of the Arctic Circle. There's been a lot of regular activity in the last year, helicopters, Container ships, that sort of thing" He announced. Out of the corner of his eye, Leon saw Carlos' attempt to get Jill's attention only to be studiously ignored by her. They'd obviously had some kind of argument. Claire was cuddled up to Kevin and Chris was, for once, listening intently to what Barry was saying. "Now, none of these checked out with any oil, shipping or tourist companies operating in the area but our agents did find out that all the activity seemed to centre around an oil rig which, according to records, has been unmanned and out of action for years" Barry continued to explain, his expression grave. "In the last couple or months, activity surrounding the rig has completely stopped dead. The agents were able to use sonar imaging and they found a huge multi-levelled structure below the oilrig. Now" Barry paused to observe the room. "I know what you're thinking. These sorts of things were built by the United States in the eighties to attack the USSR by launching nukes from under the sea-"

"To be fair Barry" Chris cut in. "I don't think any of us were thinking that" He looked around for confirmation of his point but everyone, Leon included, were too busy focussing on Barry.

"Learn your history" Barry snapped back, effectively shutting Chris up. "But the fact that there was activity up until very recently makes that explanation extremely unlikely"

"So it's another facility"? Leon asked darkly. "Another one of Umbrella's leftovers"? As he said the words, he felt a familiar sickness return to his stomach. His and Chris' naivety over the past year had been nothing short of idiotic. They were so concerned with relief and celebrating Wesker's death at their own hands, they'd missed the bigger picture. Just because Albert Wesker was dead didn't mean the remnants of Umbrella were.

"So what if it's another facility"? Carlos said with a careless shrug. "Wesker's dead. Why bother ourselves with it? It's probably abandoned because he's not around to give his orders or whatever"

Chris snorted.

"Wesker wasn't the only problem Oliveira" He replied as if Carlos was being deliberately stupid. There was something about the older man's tone that made Leon think he was rather relishing putting Carlos right. Chris and Carlos weren't enemies as such, but they weren't exactly friends either. "You of all people should know that" He added. Carlos merely rolled his eyes at this point. Part of the reason that Chris felt some enmity towards him was because Carlos used to be under the employ of Umbrella as part of the U.B.C.S.

"He's right Carlos" Claire said. "Even if I don't agree with how he delivered his point" She gave her brother a dirty look, which he merely shrugged off. "Wesker may be dead but there's going to be some die-hard Umbrella fanatics that continue his work"

"Which is why it needs investigating" Barry said loudly, taking control back as everyone starting chattering away at once, throwing in their points of view. "And that is why I asked you be here. You've all got experience of dealing with Umbrella, which far outweighs that of the British BSAA agents. It's a big location so you're going to need to scout for activity to find out exactly what's going on down there. If it's all clear then you can call in backup and have it destroyed like the Antarctic facility"

"Then why not just destroy it right away"? Carlos asked.

"Well I'd say that's pretty obvious," Chris said haughtily. He opened his mouth to speak but obviously realised that he didn't actually have an answer as he looked at Leon helplessly.

"We don't know who's down there," Barry explained. "The BSAA don't want to harm any innocent people that might've been taken down there against their will"

"Exactly what I was going to say Barry"! Chris exclaimed. He smiled smarmily at Carlos who narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything in return.

"Shut up Chris" Barry said idly as you would do to a persistently naughty child. "Now if everything goes to plan you should be in and out in one night to avoid any unwanted intervention from outsiders. The upside to this whole situation is that we have reason to strongly believe that this is the last of Umbrella's facilities"

"Do the BSAA have permission to carry out demolition in British waters"? Jill asked.

"Good point" Carlos nodded emphatically, obviously hoping to get back into Jill's good books. He reached out to take hold of her hand but she moved it away quickly. Carlos sighed audibly.

"Our British agents will liase with local militaries through our links with the UN to gain permission but as far as I've been told, it's a done deal" Barry answered. He turned his attentions to Leon and Chris. "I know the two of you haven't been on active duty of late but I was hoping you would agree to do this"

"Of course we will" Chris replied confidently with a nod. Leon felt himself nodding along too but he couldn't be as certain and as adamant as his partner. He wanted to bring Umbrella down just as much as the others did but whenever he'd thought about active duty, Sherry's death and the horrible beating Chris had received played in his head like a relentless march. After years of dodging the diagnosis, it was finally on his medical records that he was suffering from PTSD. His therapist had been very reassuring and had helped him achieve a level of functionality after the dark days following Antarctica but he knew that he was far from recovered.

He noticed Barry watching him, looking somewhat doubtful. Leon pushed aside whatever doubts he was feeling and tried to match Chris' confident face. If Barry thought for a second that he wasn't up for the task then he would be forced to stay in America whilst Chris went and that, Leon decided, was a million times worse than whatever Umbrella had left to throw at them.

"Wait a second" Kevin's voice interrupted his thoughts. "There's no way in hell Claire's going"

"I can speak for myself," Claire argued, a frown crossing her delicate features. Leon didn't really know all that much about Chris' sister but he did know that she could be very forceful and kick some ass when she really needed to.

"No arguments honey. You're not going" Kevin's voice had a tone of finality to it. "There is no way I'm going to let you risk our baby or yourself for that matter"

"Well I can't just sit around here waiting for you"! Claire shot back, her eyes filling with tears. She wiped them away fiercely with the sleeve of her jumper.

"You'll be here with me." Barry said simply, causing the rest of the group to look back towards the former S.T.A.R.S member. He'd obviously seen Chris' disappointment and Jill's surprise as he explained. "I'm getting too old to go running around Umbrella's facilities. But don't worry, I have this"! He suddenly brandished a sleek looking black PDA. "I'll be maintaining contact with you throughout your mission. Claire, you can help me. Your contacts in Terrasave may be of use"

Claire nodded, seemingly a lot calmer now. As the others descended into a flurry of chatter about equipment and weaponry, Leon watched as Chris got up from his seat and pulled his sister into a tight hug. She seemed to be getting upset again but as they spoke for a couple of minutes in hushed tones, a smile slowly spread across her face. Leon couldn't help but smile with her. Although he might often play the goon and be frequently annoying, Chris always knew the right thing to say.

The tender moment between the siblings now obviously over, Leon stood up and joined them by the fireplace. Chris had his hands on Claire's stomach and pulled a face as he felt the baby kick.

"That's so gross" He remarked as he pulled his hand away. Leon walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around his lover's waist. "I can't believe the baby's gonna be a Ryman" He added mournfully as he leant into Leon's embrace.

"Aw Bro, you know he's always going to be a Redfield at heart" Claire replied with a happy smile.

"It's a boy"? Leon said, giving the back of Chris' neck a quick kiss. "Have you thought of any names"?

"I hate to interrupt but you two have a plane to catch" Barry interjected, placing a hand on Leon's shoulder. "You going to be alright Kid"? He asked it quietly enough, presumably so that Leon could choose to ignore it if he really wanted. Chris, in a rare show of tact, freed himself from Leon's arms and started saying his goodbyes to Claire.

"Fine" Leon replied with a nod, slightly resenting the 'kid' remark. If he didn't respect Barry so much, he might've been tempted to show him how proficient he was with a knife.

"I know we planned on waiting another six months before returning you to active duty but with your Secret Service background, you're indispensable"

Leon nodded again and went to join Chris in saying his goodbyes to Claire. He wasn't entirely ready to face whatever was down there but if Barry was right and this really was Umbrella's last major facility then it would allow him to close the book of what had been a traumatic and eventful period of his life.

Barry had arranged for the group to meet a pilot in Scotland. This pilot would then take them to the oilrig via helicopter. They caught a domestic flight early the next morning after saying goodbyes to both Barry and Claire who promised they would be in touch. The flight was long and uneventful and they were all glad to get to their hotel rooms to get a good night's sleep before heading out to meet the pilot the following morning.

Barry had booked three rooms for them and, after a quick hot meal; they retired to their respective rooms for the night. Jill and Carlos took one room, Leon and Chris the other and Kevin the final room.

Chris threw himself onto the hard hotel bed and let out a contented sigh. Even though the mattress was stupidly saggy, it was still a lot more comfortable than a hard plane seat. He was trying not to think too much about what they were going to face tomorrow and was instead concentrating on happier things, like destroying the final Umbrella facility, Claire and the baby and, of course, Leon.

"Do you always have to watch me get undressed"? The younger man asked as he stripped down to his boxers. He flung his jeans and t-shirt over the back of a nearby chair before joining Chris on the bed.

"Obviously" Chris replied. "You're pretty hot. Not as hot as me but pretty damn close" He pulled Leon in for a kiss, simultaneously running his hand along the younger man's thigh as he did so. He smiled through the kiss when the felt the goose bumps rise on his partner's sensitive skin. Chris loved how pale and smooth the younger man's skin felt. His left hand continued to trace tiny circles on the inner thigh, his right ghosting over Leon's flat stomach, calloused fingertips rubbing over the shiny pink scar before moving upwards to the whiter scar tissue from the wound he'd received in Raccoon. He knew Leon's skin and body as well as he knew his own.

"Well that's nice to know" Leon said, his hand tightening in the back of Chris' hair and tugging lightly. His other hand dipped down and skimmed the waistband on Chris' boxers or, at least, where the waistband would be if Chris was actually wearing underwear.

"Underpants just slow me down" Chris explained before he reluctantly released Leon's lips and started to make a trail of kisses along the younger man's neck whilst slowly removing his boxers. He knew from experience that one of Leon's weak spots was his neck. As his gentle kisses turned to nips and then to bites, Leon melted into his arms and started to moan, his left hand starting to stroke Chris' rapidly hardening member.

END OF CHAPTER ONE.

Reviews are love!


	2. Chapter 2

Notes:- Major apologies! I've been so slack with writing this! I think I kind of burnt out after Aftermath but hopefully you'll all take the 'better late than never' attitude!

The Facility Endgame

Chapter Two

"Oh fuck! Shit! Dios Mio"! A horribly familiar voice gasped from the doorway. Chris let out a growl and looked up. Carlos was standing in the doorway, his brown eyes as wide as saucers.

"What the fuck are you doing Oliveira"? Chris snarled. At the mention of Carlos' name, Leon turned around in Chris arms, careful not to expose himself, to stare at the intruding man.

"Carlos. Since you're part of a couple yourself, I'd have thought you'd have realised what couples get up to in hotel rooms" Leon said levelly.

"Particularly couples as hot as us" Chris added, still sounding and indeed feeling, mightily pissed off. Carlos didn't seem to be making any moves to leave.

"Well that's the problem" Carlos explained, looking away as Leon retrieved his boxers from the floor and put them back on. Chris however, made no moves to cover himself. He was, and there was no denying this, a thing a beauty and if he was too much man for Carlos to handle, well, then that was Carlos' problem not his. "Jill kicked me out of our room"

"And that's our problem why"? Chris asked. This was going to be his last relaxed night for a while and he was damned if he was going to let Carlos Oliveira spoil it. Leon was looking incredibly ravishable right now and he wanted to take full advantage of it.

"I need somewhere to sleep" Carlos said rather sheepishly. "The person behind reception says all of the other rooms are full"

"Go and ask Kevin" Leon suggested helpfully. "He's in a room on his own. He probably has more room than we do"

"What Leon is trying to so tactfully explain" Chris added. "Is that we want to fuck like newlyweds and that, as open-minded as we are, you're not what we had in mind if we were ever going to consider a threesome" He grabbed hold of Leon by the hip and pulled the younger man back down onto the bed. He lightly danced his fingers down the length of his spine, which made Leon shiver with pleasure.

"Well, I wouldn't have put it as…creatively, but yeah, that's pretty much it" Leon said with a nod. "I'm sorry Carlos," He continued, sounding apologetic. "But you can't stay here tonight"

"You heard the man" Chris grinned; now playing with the waistband of the boxer shorts. He was mightily tempted to just rip the damn things off with his teeth. "Now, as your people would say, fucko offo"

Carlos made a noise akin to a snarl before he left the room, slamming the door behind him. Chris nodded triumphantly before turning his full attention back to Leon and his silly little boxer shorts.

"That was slightly harsh" Leon complained as Chris started to kiss his neck once more. He playfully bit the younger man before whispering in his ear.

"Forget Oliveira," He said breathily, his hand wrapping around Leon's hard cock. "I want to fuck you"

Leon watched the red digits of the black alarm clock change to read 6:25am before he pressed the alarm button. The alarm itself was due to go off at six thirty but he'd already been awake for the best part of an hour. He and Chris had fallen asleep sometime just after midnight having had glorious sex twice. Leon smiled as he remembered some of the things they'd done to each other. Sex with Chris was, he could confidently say, nothing like he'd ever experienced before. Despite the fact that the older man had never been with another man before, he was talented and attentive, knowing and indeed doing all the right things.

Leon rolled over to look at the sleeping bulk of his partner. He longed to reach out and stroke his skin but Chris hated that sort of thing. Whereas Leon found strokes and tickles relaxing and somewhat sensual, Chris found them annoying. He settled for just looking at the older man instead. It was warm in the small hotel room, despite how cold Scotland seemed to be, and Chris was sleeping with the thin white sheet barely covering his genitals. His amazingly muscled torso was mostly on show. The latest addition to his body was a tattoo on the right hand side of his ribcage, a complicated black tribal design stretching the length of his ribcage and ending at his hip. Leon had liked the design so much that he'd had a matching one done on his own body. Another smile played across his lips as he remembered the sex they'd had when he first showed it off to Chris.

He sat up and stretched. He decided to get a shower and try and organise some breakfast before waking the older man. He carefully peeled back the sheets and swung his legs over the bed. He jumped, startled, as his left foot came into contact with something that was definitely not the slightly stained hotel room carpet. The something moaned slightly and uttered a half-unconscious curse in Spanish before rolling over and seemingly going back to sleep. Leon looked down and saw Carlos, still fully dressed, asleep on the floor using Chris' hooded top as a makeshift pillow.

Leon aimed a swift kick at Carlos' ribs. It was calculated so that it was soft enough to not leave any sort of bruising but hard enough to wake him up. Carlos brown eyes shot open and stared up at Leon who glared down at him. Carlos must've sneaked back in at some point during the night. Pervy bastard. Leon was beginning to understand why Chris didn't seem to like him much.

"When did you come back"? He hissed, not wanting to wake Chris up. If possible, he wanted to get Carlos out of the room before Chris woke up and saw him there.

"Only a couple of hours ago" A sheepish looking Carlos replied. "I stayed in the hotel bar until they kicked me out" He pulled himself into a sitting position. "I didn't see anything. Honest"

"I thought you were gonna go to Kevin's room" Leon whispered. Carlos shook his head, running a hand through his already ruffled hair. His clothes were rumpled from sleeping in them and Leon found himself almost feeling sorry for him. "What's going on with you and Jill anyway"?

Carlos looked as if he was about to explain but a knock at the door stopped him in his tracks. At the sound of the loud knock, Chris sat bolt upright in the bed before collapsing back down, startling both Leon and Carlos. Carlos leapt to his feet, accidentally pulling the sheet with him. Obviously bored of waiting for someone to answer, Kevin strolled in, his mouth twitching as he caught sight of Carlos with the bed sheet tangled round his ankle and Leon frantically groping for something to cover up his nudity before finally settling on a pillow. Chris was watching the scene with amusement, seemingly unfettered by his own naked state.

"What the hell did you guys get up to last night"? Kevin asked, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the doorframe. He smirked as Carlos started uttering some explanation about Jill at the same time Leon was trying to explain that no way, not now, not ever, would Carlos Oliveira be part of his and Chris' sex play. "Well whatever you were up to," Kevin continued. "You'd best get ready. We're supposed to be meeting our contact in an hour" He added, checking his watch. Leon took in the older man's appearance. He was already dressed in his tactical gear. Black combats and a black t-shirt with the BSAA logo stitched on either sleeve. "We'll be picking up our weapons on the chopper" He turned to leave. "I'll see you downstairs. I heard they do a pretty good breakfast here" His mouth twitched with a hint of a smile as he added. "Nice ink Kennedy"

Leon felt a blush creep onto his cheeks as Kevin left. He leapt off the bed and pushed past Carlos to look for his boxer shorts.

"You won't find them." Carlos stated, running his hand through his hair and quickly checking his reflection in the mirror above the tiny battered dressing table. He'd obviously sneaked back to his own room at some point during the night as he was dressed in his own BSAA uniform, olive green combats with a tight green top bearing the BSAA logo. It was the same shirt that Chris wore only Leon personally thought that Chris made it look way better.

"What do you mean I won't find them"? Leon asked. He was painfully aware of his nakedness. He wasn't as confident as Chris. He actually gave a damn as to who saw his ass and dick.

"Chris threw them out of the window in a fit of passion last night" Carlos explained. He was facing Leon now but his eyes were thankfully looking anywhere but the pillow currently guarding Leon's privates. "He said you wouldn't need them again 'cos you were never leaving that bed"

If it were possible for Leon's cheeks to get any redder, they would've done right at that moment.

"It concerns me that YOU know that" He said, making for the black canvas bag that Chris had dumped on the floor upon their arrival. Forgetting all about the pillow, he let it drop and started to rummage through the bag, looking for his uniform. "Anyway. You never did tell me what's gone on between you and Jill"

"Search me" Carlos shrugged. "She's a senorita. You and me both know they act loco" He replied. "I came home and she was just annoyed but wouldn't tell me why" He sighed heavily. "I can understand why you'd rather be with a man. Got to be far less complicated"

"You'd think wouldn't you"? Leon muttered as he stepped into his navy blue combats. Having not served on a field mission yet, he hadn't been given a BSAA uniform. Instead he was making do with what was left over from his Government days. He pulled on his black 5.11 tactical shirt before delving into the bag and brought out his handgun.

"Now there's a weapon"! Carlos remarked as Leon checked over the gun. "I thought Kevin said we were getting our weapons on the chopper"?

"You are" Leon replied simply. He tucked the gun down the waistband of his combats and pulled the shirt down over it. If he slipped his hoodie on over the top, it would be safely out of sight.

"Oh I see" Carlos nodded sagely as Leon moved around the side of the bed. "Government issue"?

"Nope" Leon answered. He gave Chris a gentle shake. "C'mon, time to get up" He sighed when no movement came from his lover. "Chris"! He said, shaking more forcefully. He was still aware of Carlos watching him. "Look, are you going to stand there all day"?

"Mmm…that's what I like to hear" Chris suddenly shifted on the bed, his eyes opening, a smile stretching across his face as he saw Leon looking down at him. "The sweet sound of my Honey-Bunch putting Oliveira in his place…" He yawned loudly, scratching his stomach as he did so. "You find your boxers"? He asked with a smug grin as Carlos made a hasty exit.

"Surprisingly no" Leon replied sardonically.

"Excellent" Chris sat up and planted a kiss on Leon's forehead. "The world needs less underwear"

"But the world does need you in clothes" Leon picked his hoodie up from the floor and pulled it on over his head. "So get a move on"

"Sure thing Agent HB"!

Chris glared at the back of the shiny black helmet. The letters BSAA had been stencilled onto it with red paint. Chris snorted, probably self-importance on the wearer's part. He had an overwhelming urge to tap on the top of it as hard as he could.

"Chris" A sharp voice momentarily distracted him. He didn't need to turn around to know that Jill would be wearing a look of disapproval. She'd used that tone often in their brief relationship and it had always been accompanied with a disapproving face.

"What's Redfield's problem anyway"? Kevin asked. The group were in the chopper, somewhere past the Shetland Islands, making their way to the oil rig. Chris and Jill were sitting on one of the benches in the chopper's cabin, with Kevin, Leon and a reluctant Carlos on the bench opposite. Carlos had made an attempt to sit next to Jill, but she'd quickly hauled Chris into the cabin and sat him down beside her.

"Yeah Chris, what's up"? Leon asked. Chris smiled at his lover. Amongst Jill's disapproving look and Kevin's mocking one, the younger man's concerned smile was welcome.

"It's Brad" Jill replied shortly before Chris could even open his mouth to reply. Chris rolled his eyes expressively. He figured that after getting out of a relationship with Jill, she would stop speaking for him. Turns out that wasn't the case. She indicated the black helmeted head of their pilot.

"Jill. Please" Chris shook his head. "If you're going to refer to him then do so properly," He added pompously. "It's The Chicken"

"That's Brad Vickers"? Leon asked incredulously. Chris nodded and smiled. At least Leon would understand. He'd told the younger man all about Brad and how he'd abandoned Alpha Team stranded during the events of the Spencer Mansion. Chris hadn't seen Brad since then so it had come as a rather annoying surprise to clamber out of their rented Jeep and find Brad waiting for them in the abandoned field beside the chopper. "You told me he was short, fat and ugly" He paused for a moment to remember. "And that he smelt bad" He added.

"Chris"! Jill exclaimed as if Chris were a naughty child speaking out of turn. "Don't you think it's time you got over yourself? Brad came back and he helped us escape"

"He came back"? Leon's grey eyes looked back at Chris reproachfully. "You didn't tell me that"!

Chris snorted and shrugged. Judging by the look on Leon's face, he'd just lost his support. He supposed, deep down, there was a small part of him that had actually been pleased to see his old S.T.A.R.S colleague again. Not that he was going to admit that to the others of course.

"Guys, check it out" Carlos interrupted, pointing out of the cabin window. "Looks like we're here"

Chris stared out of the window. Below them, a tiny man-made island sat in the middle of the massive expanse of the ocean. The blue waters lapped four, thick cylindrical metal struts that disappeared beneath the depths of the water. Orange and red cranes stuck out from various points along the body of the rig, making it appear, from the air at least, like a demented spider preparing to scuttle across the water's surface. A range of white platforms sitting at different heights made up the rig's body. One of these platforms had a large brown 'H' painted on it. In the middle of the rig was a tall, black metal structure, resembling a ladder from a child's jungle gym. It stretched upwards into the sky, an orange light sitting on top of it.

"Bringing her in now" Brad's voice came from the pilot's seat. Chris felt his stomach turn as the helicopter slowed and started to descend towards the landing pad. It was hard to believe that this seemingly benign construction secretly housed another one of Umbrella's twisted facilities. He looked across the cabin and saw Leon staring at his hands, clad in their leather fingerless gloves. He gave the younger man a nudge with the toe of his boot. Leon looked up at him immediately, his grey eyes unreadable.

'You ok'? Chris mouthed at his lover. Leon responded with a simple nod. Chris however, was far from convinced.

Brad landed the helicopter with apparent ease. The group walked onto the main platform, weapons drawn. The rig seemed, just as Barry had said, deserted. Chris had expected that Brad would leave as soon as he'd dropped them off but, to his surprise, he grabbed his own weapon and joined them.

"Nice of you to join us Bradley" Chris said, heavily sarcastic. He gave Brad a hard clap on the back which almost sent the other man reeling. "Hell, you're only thirteen years late to the fight but better late then never eh"?

"Chris"! Jill's tone was, once again, like a mother scolding her child. Chris pulled a face at her and she turned away, shaking her head. They continued to move forward as a group, sweeping the area carefully, until they came to the centre of the rig.

"So how are we going to get under the surface"? Carlos directed the question at Jill but it was Kevin who answered.

"Over there" He said; nodding towards the large, ladder like structure that Chris had seen from the chopper. It was even taller and more expansive now they were up close but they could see that at the base of it was a set of, what looked like lift doors. "Well" He continued, stopping by the doors and turning to face the group. "It's now or never guys" He pressed the call button at the side of the doors and a soft 'ding!' indicated that the lift was on its way.

"Hmm" Chris heard Jill murmur beside him. He looked at her questioningly. She nodded at the lift shaft. "Wouldn't you think that if they'd been a mass evacuation of the facility, that the lift would be here and not at the bottom of the shaft"?

"So what you're saying is-" Chris felt his stomach turn again. Jill nodded gravely.

"That its likely there are people down there," She continued.

"Doesn't come as a surprise though really does it"? Leon was at Chris' other side, his tone serious. "I mean, it's Umbrella" He shrugged. "There's going to be something down there"

"We'll take care of it" Carlos butted in confidently. He held up the Beretta he was holding and grinned. "We're well leaded"

"Some of us more than others eh Oliveira"? Kevin said suggestively as the lift doors opened. He stepped aside. "Ladies first" He nodded at Jill who shook her head but smiled at him anyway. Carlos shot Kevin a glare before pushing past him to follow Jill. "Hey man, just because I know how to treat the ladies"

Stepping into the lift was like stepping into another world entirely. In total contrast to the cluttered, industrial look of the oilrig, the lift was white and airy and could've easily fit fifteen people comfortably. The back wall was entirely glass so as the lift started to descend, they could see out. As soon as the lift shaft went below the surface, it too seemed to be constructed entirely from glass so that it resembled a thick, clear tube. They could see the slightly murky waters of the ocean. Upon seeing this for the first time Brad, who had been previously leaning against the back wall, leapt backwards and almost collided with the doors.

"Jesus Bradley, you're not scared are you"? Chris teased as Brad appeared to be looking anywhere but the glass wall. "That's not like you…"

"You ever gonna let the man forget Raccoon"? Carlos asked. He looked over at Jill, obviously hoping that this display of maturity and gallantry for Brad would impress her. If it did, she certainly didn't show it. Instead she looked out of the lift, seemingly interested in the ocean.

"I don't know U.B.C.S" Chris sneered. He took great delight in using another one of his favoured nicknames for Carlos. It wasn't like he hated the guy or anything; he just didn't like the fact that he'd once worked for Umbrella. It was obvious the guy's morals could be dictated by however much money he was offered and, as someone who'd fought the good fight for years with very little to his name because of it, it irked him somewhat. It had bugged him even more when Jill had decided to get together with him. Apparently she didn't care about his past.

A silence fell over the group as the lift continued to descend. Judging by the serious expressions on everyone's faces, they were obviously deep in thought as to what horrors awaited them. Jill and Carlos were staring at the floor, Jill's look thoughtful, Carlos' somewhat blank. Brad was now leant against the doors, his thumbs hooked into his belt loops in an attempt to look casual and relaxed. The effect was ruined by the fact that his hands were visibly shaking. Kevin was looking out into the ocean, picking at a loose thread on the sleeve of his BSAA top.

Leon looked thoughtful too, staring down at the bump in his glove where his engagement ring sat underneath the soft leather. Chris wondered if the younger man was thinking about Sherry again. Chris stared down at his own, matching ring. He hated to see Leon suffer and it seemed like since they'd met each other, he'd done nothing but suffer. That was why he hadn't been too happy when Leon had told him about wanting to join the BSAA. The day that he'd been released from the Secret Service had been a happy day for Chris. It had given him hope that Leon would take some time out for himself and try to recover from the problems his PTSD brought him. The nightmares had been particularly horrible. It had pained Chris to hear his lover's frightened cries as he was cruelly yanked from sleep by his own mind. The sleeping tablets had helped but then came the flashbacks during the day.

Chris couldn't stand the silence any longer. He needed to say something, anything to try and break it and stop his mind wandering off to think about his lover's mental health. If he thought too much about it, he'd stop the damn lift right at that moment and insist that Brad fly him and Leon back to America. He struggled to think of something to say that might possibly lighten the mood until eventually, something came to him.

"I hate you Brad" He said it simply, casually, almost as if he was having a friendly conversation with a neighbour. Jill rolled her eyes at him and Carlos smirked. Kevin shook his head but also smiled. Leon, obviously wanting to maintain the mature high ground, stifled his chuckle behind his right hand. Brad just looked at him wearily. Chris grinned. It was amazing how quickly Brad had got used to Chris ribbing him again. It was almost like they were back in the S.T.A.R.S office during those good old days when Brad was often the butt of his jokes or pranks. Sure Brad had once taken a week off due to stress but it had all been in good fun. Chris looked over at Jill to see if she was also experiencing this nostalgic feeling but she just looked irritated. Chris held up both of his hands. "Hey, just breaking the tension" He explained. "Anyway" He nodded towards Brad. "He doesn't mind. He would've said if he minded"

"I did used to mind actually…" Brad started but Chris cut him off.

"Bradley. Please. Jill and I were talking" He shook his head in, mock disbelief. "Some people are so rude"

Eventually, after what seemed like hours, the lift came to a stop. The doors opened up with a gentle ping and, as they stepped out of a lift into the corridor, Leon realised that it was made entirely out of glass. He supposed that if it weren't an Umbrella facility they'd just stepped into, it would be pretty impressive. The corridor curved away from him at both ends, almost as if they were standing in the middle of an inner tube. Leon looked through the glass and out into the murky waters. He could just about make out the other side of the glass ring. If he looked down, he could see dull lights.

"Check this out guys" Leon turned to see Kevin pointing to a large picture frame fixed to the glass wall. Stuck inside the frame was an artists' rendition of what was presumably the facility they were in. Their current location seemed to be the centrepiece of the structure with four lifts, each leading to a separate cylindrical sections labelled, North, South, East and West. Attached to each one of these sections was a diagonal freight lift that attached to the disc, which was labelled 'Maintenance Staff'. The painfully neat line drawing also showed a section that appeared to be underneath the sea bed which had been labelled 'Brig and Generators' in the same neat, sloping script. The drawing reminded Leon of the pictures he'd seen in his Uncle's old Sci-fi fantasy books from the 1960's about people living on the moon.

"Oh this has gotta be another one of Spencer's fucked up ideas" Chris said, regarding the drawing and shaking his head.

"This feels really unsafe" Brad was looking down at the glass beneath his feet as if he was expecting it to crack any minute.

"Where do you want to start then guys?" Kevin asked, motioning to the drawing. Jill seemed to stare at it thoughtfully for a second before she answered. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement that Jill was the most organised of the group and therefore the one who would be taking charge. It felt rather jarring to Leon who had been used to working alone for so long to be suddenly part of a group.

"I think we should start on the top levels and work our way down" Jill replied. She tapped the drawing. "Start at the North section here and work our way round clockwise before going down to the Maintenance Staff level," She added thoughtfully.

"Sounds like a plan" Carlos said with a sycophantic nod. Leon couldn't help but smirk as Jill rebuffed him once again. He wondered what Carlos had done and remembered that the older man hadn't actually gotten round to explaining.

"That's a woman's logic for you" Kevin gave Jill a gentle clap on the back. "Infallible" He grinned at her and she blushed slightly and smiled back at him before adjusting her cap and stepping towards the North elevator. Leon heard the low growl from Carlos. So did Kevin.

"What's up Oliveira"? He said teasingly as the group started to follow Jill's lead. "Jealous because I've made your girl laugh more than you've obviously done recently"?

The growl turned to a snarl. Chris and Jill were deep in conversation, completely unaware of the situation. It appeared that although Kevin was teasing, there was possibly some serious tension between the two men.

"They say people are either lovers or fighters" Kevin continued, unaware of just how pissed off Carlos was. "Which are you Oliveira? Cos from where I'm standing, you're neither…"

Luckily, years of Secret Service training meant that Leon was fast. Fast, accurate and very effective. He stopped Carlos just before the older man made a grab for Kevin's throat. Brad, who had been hanging around at the back of the group, suddenly surged forward and grabbed Kevin by the shoulder, turning him away and effectively leading him in the direction of Chris and Jill. Leon gave him a grateful nod. Carlos was squirming in his grip, muttering a hail of curses in a mixture of English and Spanish. Occasionally, the two languages merged, creating new and interesting insults which, had the situation been different, Leon might've found amusing.

"Should've let me strangle him" Carlos said, after Leon finally released him.

"We're supposed to be working as a team," Leon reminded him. "Stop acting like an overly macho idiot" He added harshly. Carlos uttered a final curse before appearing to take Leon's words on board. The pair of them walked behind the others, Carlos continually shooting deadly looks at the back of Kevin's head.


	3. Chapter 3

Notes:- I'm finally making some progress on getting this story written! Thanks everyone for your patience! It's a short chapter here but hopefully you'll enjoy it.

The Facility Endgame

Chapter Three

The lift ride to the North section of the facility was, thankfully, a short one. They stepped out into a strange, stark corridor, roughly six metres wide. The floor beneath their feet was black and so highly polished that they could see their blurred reflections in it. It looked as though it was made from expensive marble. The ceiling was the same deep black but the colour was broken up by a wide strip of gleaming silver metal with long strip lights built into it, all the same, painfully precise distance from each other. The light from above bounced off the corridor's walls, which were constructed using the same silver metal as the ceiling. Overall, it gave the corridor a futuristic feel but one that was slightly dated, as if it had been conceived back in the Sixties when people were convinced this was what the buildings of tomorrow would look like.

"This has gotta be one of Spencer's ideas" Chris reiterated, marvelling at how clean the place seemed. Jill nodded her agreement. Chris dragged the tip of his boot across the surface of the black marble, grinning with pleasure when it created an ugly blurry smudge across the floor.

"Small victories huh"? Leon commented. Chris smirked and gave his lover a cocky nod.

"Shit" Jill cursed. She was fiddling with the radio that was attached to her gun belt. She shook her head. "My radio's out. Static on all channels"

Leon checked his own radio and found his had the same problem. Judging by the dismayed looks on the rest of the group's faces, their radios were the same story.

"Great, so now Barry can't contact us" Kevin grumbled.

"And we can't contact each other if we get split up" Jill added darkly.

Carlos was the first of the group to venture forth into the corridor, making a point of shoving Kevin as he did so. He stepped lightly, trying to avoid the inevitable squeak of his boots on the floor. He kept his gun drawn, ready for a surprise attack. The others followed, their own guns drawn, their own feet light. Leon could see Brad's handgun trembling slightly in his grasp. It reminded him painfully of himself upon his arrival in Raccoon. God knows how he kept hold of his gun back then, his fingers were so sweaty. He felt a rush of sympathy for Brad although he barely knew the guy. Chris, on the rare occasions Brad's name had come up, had always been disparaging about his former colleague.

"Ok, so anyone else getting a bit weirded out by the lack of roaming monsters"? Chris asked. "Don't know about you Leon but even Krauser's ugly mug would be a welcome sight now"

"Who's Krauser"? Brad asked as the group moved down the hallway. Leon opened his mouth to answer but Chris got there quicker.

"A jealous ex of Leon's" He said with a perfectly straight face and tone. Brad's eyes widened as he looked at Leon. Chris chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Bradley, Bradley, Bradley…you'll believe anything"!

"Shut up Chris" Jill ordered in a matter of fact voice. Leon noticed that Brad's grateful look that he'd directed towards her lingered more than was usually polite. She didn't appear to notice, nor did Carlos. Chris was too busy gloating to care and Kevin was examining a door.

"Can't hear anything on the other side," Kevin said, his ear pressed to the cold steel door. There was a small panel on the side of the wall next to it. Readying his weapon again, Kevin pressed it and the door slid open. The group stepped into the room, one by one, and slowly fanned out.

"Oh Jesus…" Carlos muttered as it dawned on the group just what they had stepped into. Tiled white from floor to ceiling, the room appeared to be some sort of operating room. There were multiple dissection slabs, dappled with streaks of blood that were rust coloured with age. Gutters ran around each table and the only remains of whatever gruesome operations had been performed was the lone body of a large shark laying prone on the table closest to the left hand wall.

"Looks like Umbrella have been up to their old tricks" Kevin commented, wrinkling his nose at the smell. The room, now devoid of human occupation, smelt terrible. A sickening feeling settled in Leon's stomach and he noted, with bitter humour, that the smell of rotting flesh was something that he was used to.

"At least this one's dead" Chris remarked as he slowly edged over to the shark. Staring at the rotting remains of the shark brought back memories he'd thought were long buried. Memories of the flooded basement of the Guardhouse, trying to run in the deep water and ultimately tripping up, all the while trying to stay behind the vicious beasts so they couldn't take a chunk out of his legs or any other part of him they could reach.

"Careful Chris…" Leon warned, following closely behind his lover. Jill, Carlos and Brad were edging around the other wall, still wary in case anything might jump out for a surprise attack. Kevin was still by the doorway, guarding it. He didn't seem all that keen to come further into the room.

Chris, obviously satisfied that the shark no longer posed a threat, moved on quickly towards a row of sinks. Leon stuck close to the wall, noting with interest, a hole in it cover by thick red flaps of plastic. It was quite large and looked like it was possibly some form of disposal hatch, probably for biological waste. He shuddered at the thought of what might be lurking down there, bits and pieces of human and creature alike, dumped heartlessly by Umbrella scientists as though it was worthless trash.

He was closer to the shark now. Close enough to see that it had something sticking out of its thick tail. A syringe. He could see that there was still some liquid left within it, a purple, inky like substance. He moved forwards. If he could get the syringe then maybe they could find a way to analyse it. If it was some new type of virus and they found survivors that were infected, they'd have a better chance of developing an anti-virus if they had a sample of the original virus to start with.

Leon holstered his gun, opting instead for his knife. If the beast wasn't actually dead and made a sudden move, he'd stand a better chance with the knife at such a close range. He unsheathed the shining blade, well looked after, with a black dragon etched at the base of it. His fingers tightened around the grip he knew so well, the knife becoming an extension of his body. He moved forwards and his hand closed around the syringe. He pulled at it and it came away easily.

A sudden, heavy, flapping fin knocked his blade out of his hand. It flew away from him, hitting the wall and landing on the floor with a loud clatter. Chris and the others whipped around, weapons at the ready but it was too late.

Chris felt every single drop of blood in his body turn to ice as he turned around just in time to see the horrible mutant shark thrashing wildly on the slab. The bulky mass that was its tail suddenly collided with Leon's body with such a brutal force that it sent the younger man flying towards the wall. Chris cried out, as Leon suddenly seemed to disappear. He ran forwards blindly, numbly aware of the gunfire around him. Someone was screaming his name, Jill most likely, but all he could think about was Leon. He reached the wall, palms slapping against the tiles as he hit it. The shark was prone now, stilled by the slew of bullets that had been fired into its body.

He wanted to scream when he realised why Leon had disappeared. There was a large hole in the wall, large enough for someone to fall through. He growled as thick plastic flaps tried to prevent him from reaching his lover. He grabbed a handful of them and tore them from the metal frame. He tossed them aside, not caring where they landed. The hole was dark and obviously led to some kind of chute. Chris didn't care, he had to find Leon, he just had to…

Something was stopping him. More of those flaps? No…not flaps, someone, not something. Hands. Strong hands.

"Chris"! A male voice, sounding strained, as if he was using all of his strength to stop him from following Leon. "Get…a…fucking…grip"!

Another pair of hands joined the first and he was being pulled back, pulled away. Away from the hole and away from Leon. He tried to struggle but the two pairs of hands were too strong. One of them held his arms behind his back in a powerful lock, the others on his shoulders, pushing him back from the front.

"Fuck Redfield! How much do you fucking weigh"? Kevin's voice filtered into his consciousness. It was his hands on his shoulders. Kevin fucking Ryman.

"Get off me you floppy haired fucktard"! He bellowed in Kevin's face. He tried to punch him, to get him out of the way. All that mattered was getting down that hole. He remembered the hands that currently had him in an arm lock. He twisted his head round and saw the owner of these hands was Carlos. "And you! Fucking U.B.C.S. fucking Nazi scum! Get the fuck off me! Leon's down there"!

"Chris"! A hand on his face, grabbing his chin. It was a soft hand, a calming hand with a soothing voice. The red mist that had blinded him cleared slightly enough for him to see that it was Jill. Her blue eyes looking straight into his. "Chris you can't follow him…" Her eyes looked away from a moment. "Let him go" And the hands released him. He was vaguely aware of Carlos and Kevin backing away.

"Leon…" Not a name, but a plea. Jill was looking at him now with sorrow in her eyes. He couldn't stand it. Leon was gone. He wanted to break down, to scream, to tear apart the entire place until he found him.

"We'll find out where it goes," Jill said confidently. Chris would've felt a lot more confident if she'd have looked him in the eyes when she said that. He knew Jill. He'd known her long enough to know what that meant.

"No"! A loud, forceful sound that echoed around the room. "He's not dead Jill"

"I didn't-" Jill started to plead her innocence but he shook his head, cutting her off. Ok, so she'd calmed him down and he was grateful for that. It meant that he could clearly see how he was going to sort this out. He moved back towards the chute and saw Kevin and Carlos step forward again. He glared at them.

"I'm not going to leap down there so back the fuck off" He warned. Kevin and Carlos could be frequently stupid but they weren't that stupid. Their movements ceased immediately. Feeling his heart pounding in his chest, Chris leant over the hole. "Leon"! He shouted as loud as he could. "Leon! Can you hear me"? He waited a few seconds. "Leon"! His voice echoed down the chute. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Chris…"

"Jill…if you try and tell me that he's dead, then I swear to God…" Chris replied, still looking into the horrible blackness of the chute.

"We don't know where that goes," She continued gently.

"It looks like it's a chute for clinical waste," A voice piped up from behind them. Chris turned around and Brad was there, one of the torn plastic flaps in his hands. "These flaps have the biohazard symbol printed on them" He held out the flap for them to examine but Chris batted it away. He felt Jill's hand tighten on his shoulder. "If it's a clinical waste chute" Brad continued, seemingly oblivious to how pissed off he was. "Then it could lead to a furnace or a-" Before Brad could finish his sentence; Chris landed a hard punch to his former colleague's jaw. Brad's head snapped back impressively, blood exploding from his bottom lip.

"Leon. Is. Not. Dead"

"Chris"! Jill had released him and had rushed to Brad who was now sprawled on the floor, blood dribbling from his split lip. Jill knelt beside him and extracted a gauze pad from the Medikit she'd attached to her belt. Carlos and Kevin were looking on, a mixture of horror and shock on their faces. Chris glared at them all, breathing heavily. What did he care? He didn't need any of them. The one person he needed had just disappeared down some godforsaken hole in the wall. "Look Chris" Jill was back at his side now, having enlisted Kevin's help to deal with Brad. "None of us want to think about what might've happened to Leon but we all know that it's a real possibility that he won't be coming back-"

"I'll say that to you shall I when Oliveira gets chewed on by a Tyrant or something? See how much you like hearing it" Chris spat bitterly. What the fuck were these people thinking? "I don't care what any of you say. Leon's not dead. And I'm going to go and find him. Fuck what's going on in this place. I don't care. Leon's all that matters to me now. So…" He folded his arms across his chest and glared at the others. "Are any of you going to come with me"?

"I don't think-" Jill started to say but surprisingly; the voice that cut her off wasn't the voice that Chris expected.

"I'll go" Brad had picked himself off the floor and was staring straight at him. The blood staunched gauze pad was still pressed to his lip. Somewhere, underneath his anger, Chris was beginning to feel guilty. He'd always given Brad a hard time, even before the mansion incident. He didn't bully him exactly, but he had often targeted him for practical jokes. And now, when it mattered the most, it wasn't Jill or Kevin that were stepping forward to help him, it was Brad.

"Guys, I really don't think this is a good idea," Jill said as Brad dabbed at his still bleeding lip.

"Look Jill" Chris felt the rumblings of rage building up inside of him. Her words felt like a betrayal. There was a small part of him, deep down, that knew if it hadn't have been Leon that had fallen, then he might've been able to look at the situation logically. It was a long drop; they didn't know where it ended. It could lead to a furnace or straight out into the ocean so even if he had survived the fall it was still very unlikely he'd be alive. But it was because it was Leon that stopped him thinking this. Leon was the most important part of his world and there was no way he was ever going to accept that he had just died. They'd been through so much together in such a relatively short amount of time that it wasn't an option. His brain would simply not compute that the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with was no longer breathing. "I really don't care what you think," He continued bluntly. Her face flashed with hurt but he couldn't stop now. "I'm willing to give up on him just yet. You may well be but I'm not" She opened her mouth, obviously to argue but he held up his hand. "You and the others can carry on with the mission but Brad and I will be taking the closest lift to the bottom levels. Leon's down there somewhere and I'm going to go and get him" He'd spotted a door at the opposite end of the room and it seemed as good a place as any to start looking for a lift. He made a move towards it. "I never gave up on you," He added quietly. "Not when everyone, your precious boyfriend included, told me you were dead". He stared her out and she looked at the floor. It was a cheap way of making his point but he didn't care.

Chris' words seemed to have ushered the group into an uncomfortable silence. There was a harsh tension in the air, very different from an hour or so ago when Chris had been teasing Brad. The door that he'd spotted opened into a large corridor that, like the ring before it, was made entirely out of glass. The sight had lost its original wonder, with no-one pausing to stare at the dark depths of the ocean that were clearly visible. They moved along the corridor silently, Chris and Brad bringing up the rear. Brad had dumped the bloody gauze pad and was now sporting an impressively swollen lip. He kept glancing at Chris and giving him little smiles of encouragement. He ended up looking more condescending but at least the thought was there. Jill seemed to be suitably cowed by Chris' earlier words and had snapped straight back into her business-like demeanour, stressing the importance of having their weapons drawn and listening out for people or creatures.

They were about halfway along the corridor, the opposite end's door in sight, when the floor beneath them started to shake. Out of the corner of his eye, Chris could see movement on the other side of the glass. He turned to look, his warning catching in his throat as he caught sight of a large, black mass moving rapidly towards the corridor at an accelerated speed. It was moving so quickly that he couldn't even get a good look at what it was. He heard a frightened gasp and he knew that Brad had seen it too. It moved through the water smoothly, barrelling straight towards them.

"What the fuck is that"? Kevin yelled.

"Move"! Jill screamed. Chris grabbed Brad and the pair leapt backwards. He saw Jill, Carlos and Kevin leap forwards. The creature smashed through the corridor, sending shards of glass flying in all directions. The water burst forth from the broken glass. Chris could hear Jill shouted but the rushing water drowned her words out. Separated by the huge gap in the glass, Chris and Brad had no choice but to go back the way they came. They turned around and saw that a thick, metal shutter was quickly closing, obviously to minimise the flooding. Chris hauled Brad to his feet and the two of them dived through the rapidly closing gap. He heard the shutter clang shut behind them. The water that had made it into the operating room had created a large puddle across the tiled floor.

"Do you-do you think they made it"? Brad stuttered, staring at the shutter in shock. "What was that thing"?

"Don't know. Didn't see" Chris replied breathlessly, shaking the excess water out of his hair. All he did know was that they were now separated from Jill, Carlos and Kevin and that they had no way of contacting them.

Leon opened his eyes and was surprised to see nothing but blackness. He was lying on his back on something that was very soft and very wet. He remembered falling down that damn chute after the shark had started going berserk. It had felt like an age before his fall had been broken by something soft. He gingerly moved his limbs, one after the other, quickly ascertaining that nothing appeared to be broken. He was lucky that whatever he'd landed on was strong enough and thick enough to break his fall.

As he came to his senses, he was hit by a gut-churning stench that inflamed his nostrils. Dread bubbled up in his stomach as he realised what that smell was. Death. Decay. It was a smell that had forever haunted his nightmares and flashbacks. They always started like this, his nightmares. Trapped in black, unable to see but his other senses heightened so that the smell of the rotting bodies seemed overwhelming. He knew what was coming. They'd be here any moment now. The zombies. Ready to claw at his flesh with rotting, blood drenched digits. His hands scrambled for his gun but it wasn't there. Oh god. It must've fallen from his belt when he'd fallen. His knife! It's not there either. He dropped it on the floor when the shark started attacking.

He had to stop this. Had to stop himself. Chris wasn't here to stop the flashback for him. He scrambled to his feet, feeling icy waves radiate down his spine as his foot sunk down into something wet and soft like mud. He needed to think logically and stop those horrible, ugly memories from taking him over. But the smell, that smell, was hard to ignore. He stepped forward again, shuddering as something crunched underfoot. The smell was suffocating. His nightmares were on the very cusp of his consciousness, fighting to bleed into reality but he couldn't let that happen. He was a survivor and he had to survive. If he looked at this situation logically then there was only one possible explanation. He'd fallen into a body dump. A place where the Umbrella scientists dumped their dead, having exhausted its uses.

But how did he know that all around him was dead? The smell alone wasn't enough. The blackness around him could be holding anything. He could feel the sweat starting to gather and his chest was feeling tight. He started to take deep breaths, trying to root himself in reality. It was so much easier when Chris was around. He concentrated on the image of his lover and it gave him the strength he needed to get moving.

If he was right and he was in a body dump that meant that the room couldn't be that big. All he needed to do was reach a wall. If he reached a wall then he could work his way around it until he came across a door. He moved slowly and cautiously, arms outstretched and groping, waiting to come into contact with something solid. The only sound in the whole room was his boots moving through the decayed remains of whatever poor souls had been carelessly discarded. He kept slipping and stumbling and at one point he almost fell face first into something that smelt like it had been there for weeks. He felt as if he was on high alert, listening out of the telltale moans of the living dead or the clicking of claws as something skittered across the floor towards him. Every step was tentative and each time he moved, he prodded at the space in front of him with the toe of his boot. It felt like he was walking across a field full of potholes that had been covered with a thick duvet. His stomach churned as he felt his combats become saturated with the viscous fluids from the bodies.

His hands suddenly came into contact with cold metal. He spread his palms across it and almost laughed with relief when he realised that he'd found one of the walls at last. He leant against it, feeling his heart pounding in his chest. The muscles in his jaw were starting to ache from keeping his teeth clenched. He moved his right boot and something underneath it popped, unleashing a fresh wave of the rancid stench. Bile rose in his throat and he had to fight hard to keep the contents of his stomach in check.

He started sidestepping to the left, slowly working his way around the wall. Every so often his boot would come into contact with something that would split or burst underfoot releasing more of the noxious smell of decay. His fingers clenched against the wall. In the darkness it was so much harder to tell himself that he wasn't in Raccoon City. But if it was Raccoon, which one? The original in all its glory with hoards of gruesome monsters ready to tear him apart? Where he had to fire a gun at a human for the first time? Or was it Wesker's twisted version. Constructed to torture him and mess with his head before their final confrontation with him and Sherry's death.

Oh god how he wished Chris was here. Sherry had never been, and still wasn't, a place where his head could go. He moved past a corner and onto the next wall, fear stabbing at his heart when a bone crunched under his boots. The same crunch he'd heard as Sherry's head hit the ground. He's in dark waters now, swimming through memories and feelings that threaten to drown him. Wesker, dressed all in black, smirking as they try to kill him and he won't die, he won't stay the fuck down.

He collapses against something, gulping in air and fighting against the panic attack he knows is coming. Something is digging into his waist; it's cold and hard like the claws of the Lickers that he knows stalk the hallways. He tried to bat it away but it didn't move and that was when he realised that it wasn't a claw. It was a handle. He'd found the door!

He wrenched the door open, gripping the handle so hard it felt like his knuckles were going to burst through his skin. He ran through the doorway and slammed the door shut behind him, not wanting to even look at what he'd left behind. The light hitting his eyes was like waking up and coming back to reality. He was in a corridor of some kind, a small, claustrophobic corridor, the sort you might find leading to a boiler room. He was standing knee deep in murky water that had a chemical smell. He took a few deep breaths and looked down at his right hand. Yes, his ring was there. It was all he needed to confirm that he truly was back in reality.

He was going to have to focus if he was going to get back to Chris and the others. The corridor was a sharp contrast to the more showy clean corridors of the higher levels. Painted dark grey and lined with a network of valves and pipes, this obviously wasn't a place that anyone of importance was ever supposed to tread. He wondered if the slight flooding was part of the reason the facility seemed deserted. A bitter smile crossed his features, some sort of leak, that old chestnut.

He started to wade through the water, hoping that whatever was in it wouldn't eat away at his clothes and skin.

"Well isn't that just perfect"! Kevin spat as the shutter clanged shut behind them. "We're separated"! He plucked at his soaked uniform in disgust. "And I could've stayed at home with my wife but oh no, good old Kevin Ryman, always has to think of the greater good" He helped Jill to her feet. "Are you alright"?

"Fine" Jill answered. "But we need to work out how we're going to get back to Chris and Brad" She bit her bottom lip. "I hope they're ok"

"They'll be fine" Carlos said reassuringly as he picked him up off the floor. Jill nodded at him but didn't say anything or look in his direction. Kevin sighed deeply.

"Can you at least talk to him"? He asked. "You don't have to like him, hell none of us do, but you could at least communicate considering the situation we're in" He grinned at Carlos who was glaring at him. "Why aren't you guys talking anyway? I'm sure whatever it was, Oliveira didn't mean it and he's very sorry"

"I'd kind of like to know what I've done as well" Carlos replied, turning to Jill.

"If you don't know, I'm not telling you" She said, folding her arms across her chest. Carlos snorted and Kevin howled in frustration. "And you're right Kevin. We have more important things to worry about" She turned on her heel and started to stalk down the corridor they'd dived into. It was the same as the one that had led to the operating room. Doors lined either side of it and each one had a name printed on it in black lettering.

"Looks like we've hit the researcher's offices" Kevin commented, keeping his voice down. Just because they hadn't come across any human life so far didn't mean that the place was deserted. He inched closer to Jill. "Where do you want to start"?

Jill nodded at the door closest to them. Just like the others, this one too had, at some point, someone's name written across it. Unlike the other doors, the lettering had been scraped at so it was impossible to see what it had once said. In the stark white cleanliness of the corridor, it looked incongruous, like an ugly imperfection. Kevin pressed himself against the door, his hand on the doorknob. He nodded to Carlos who watched the other end of the corridor, his gun raised. Jill stood by, ready to open fire on the doorway if needed.

Kevin pushed open the door and burst into the room. Jill followed close behind and Carlos brought up the rear. Fortunately, the room was empty. Carlos stayed by the door to stand guard whilst Kevin and Jill set about investigating the room. It was a small office, furnished with a bookcase, large desk, chair and lamp all made from expensive looking dark oak. The carpet beneath their feet was a plush maroon colour and the walls, in contrast to the white outside, were painted chocolate brown. The bookcase was lined with books that had been bound in red, green and blue leather.

"Why are these things always leather"? Kevin asked as he strolled over to the bookcase. He slipped his gun back in the holster and plucked one of the books off the shelf. "Science stuff" He muttered, carelessly dropping the book to the floor.

Jill was standing at the desk, rummaging through the drawers. Like the desktop, they were empty. It looked as if someone had been here before them and cleared out all of the owner's personal effects and any research documents they'd had. She was about to give up when she spotted something stuck right at the back of the bottom drawer. It was a small black notebook, like the sort a reporter or beat cop would carry. Jill pulled it out.

"Carlos. All clear"? She asked.

"Yeah. Everything's bueno" He replied. His eyes lingered on her and she looked away. She couldn't think about her problems with Carlos right now. She sat down and opened the notebook. Each page was dated and written in a neat, sloping script. As she settled down to read it became obvious that what she reading was a diary. The first few entries chronicled the owner's daily movements but nothing at all about their work within the facility. As she read on, it appeared that the diary's owner, whom she assumed to be male, was having problems with a couple of the other researchers. He complained that he was feeling bullied by them and that he was paranoid they were trying to steal his work. There was then a week between the last and next entry and after that, the entries took a more sinister turn.

_15th July_

_Oh they looked so pretty. Brains and blood splattered across the floor. They thought that using my own gas against me would scupper my research. Little did they know how powerful it would make me and now, now they're dead. They begged for their lives of course but that just made me more determined to end their worthless lives…_

Jill's stomach churned and she closed the notebook. Was this the reason the facility was deserted? One mad researcher? If that was the case then what had happened to him?

END OF CHAPTER THREE.


	4. Chapter 4

Notes:- Here be chapter four!

The Facility Endgame

Chapter Four

It hadn't taken Chris and Brad long to find a lift. They'd backtracked through the operating room and to the first corridor they'd originally been in. They'd followed it along and it had turned a corner, finally leading to a lift. They'd rushed in and taken it to the lowest floor that it would go to. It turned out that the lowest it went was the Maintenance floor. They stepped out into a recreation area. It consisted of a large rectangular room with dull metallic walls. The only windows were small brass portholes, evenly spaced along each wall. At the opposite end of the room was a large door. A metal gantry encircled the room with metal grill stairs to their right, which led up to it. To their left were a couple of pool tables and in the back corner, a small bar which looked as if it had been hastily constructed using plywood. Tarnished metal chairs and tables were dotted around the room. Some had glasses atop them and others had playing cards, chess sets and draughts, all laid out like they were in the middle of a game.

"Do you think Jill and the others are alright"? Brad asked. Since they'd been separated, they'd largely been silent. Chris shrugged. If he was truly being honest, the only thing he really cared about right now was finding Leon. He supposed that he did feel bad about what he'd said to Jill but as far as he was concerned, she'd deserved it.

"So Bradley, what have you been up to anyway"? Chris asked. He couldn't stand the silence anymore. If he was talking crap, his mind wasn't playing through each and every terrible scenario that could've happened to Leon. "What did you do before you joined the esteemed ranks of the BSAA? Which, by the way, I'm guessing you bought your way into but that's another story…"

"I was a security guard for a while" Brad replied, sweeping the room with his gun as he spoke.

"So you failed to get into the British police force then"? Chris said matter-of-factly, fingering one of the chess pieces on the table. Leon was a proficient chess player. It wasn't a game that he'd ever really understood. He knocked the piece, the bishop he recalled it to be, over and moved on.

"No"! Brad's tone was a little too high-pitched, a little too defensive and Chris knew that he'd hit the nail right on the head. "I wanted to be a security guard actually-"

"Yeah" Chris snorted with a smug grin. "Just like every other security guard. They all wanted to be a security guard first"

"When did you realise you were gay"? Brad asked, obviously wanting to direct the conversation away from his definite failed attempt to become a police officer in England. Chris made a mental note to forcibly extract the full story later.

"Probably around the same time you realised you weren't getting into the police force," Chris answered. It was so much easier this way. Keeping up the banter. It gave his mind something other to do than picture Leon's death. "What made you leave America anyway"?

"Don't know" Brad was shrugging, obviously attempting to come across as flippant but Chris wasn't fooled for a second. "There wasn't really much left for me in America" He moved towards the bar, ready to shoot should anyone or anything suddenly pop up from behind it. "And I'd always wanted to go to England"

"You got family there"? Chris asked.

"No" Brad was behind the bar now. It looked just like any other bar despite being hastily constructed of plywood. There was a basic shelf with rows and rows of clean glasses underneath the bar top and another shelf had been fixed to the wall holding all the different bottles of spirits. There was a cardboard box on the floor that looked as if it'd once been filled with packets of nuts. Brad's stomach rumbled in response. "My wife and daughter died in Raccoon…"

Chris almost dropped his gun. He looked at his former colleague, who was now studying the nearby vending machines with interest. He and Brad had never really been that close. Forrest, Kenneth, Barry and Jill. They'd been his closest friends in S.T.A.R.S. Brad had just been the fall guy, the guy who'd been the butt of his practical jokes, more of an acquaintance than a friend. And then after the mansion incident, he'd been the guy that'd let them down. It hadn't mattered that Brad had ultimately come back to rescue them. It was the fact that he'd deserted them in the first place. Chris was ex-military and had a strong sense of being part of a team. He'd been trained to never leave anyone behind. If you couldn't trust your fellow soldiers, you couldn't trust anyone. Brad's desertion had been hard for him to take. But in all the years he'd had to think about it, he'd never once thought about what Brad might've lost.

"Chris, check these vending machines out" Brad said. Chris blinked and came back to the present. He hurried over to the machines. "Looks like they've been pried open" Brad explained, pointing at the front of the first machine where the front of it was hanging slightly open. Chris pulled at the door and it swung open revealing the inside of the machine to be empty. It had obviously been looted at some point.

"Looks like we're not alone after all"

The further Leon moved down the corridor, the more unnerved he was getting. Luckily, whatever chemical had been released into the water was too diluted to do any harm to him. He was acutely aware of how impossible it was to move through the water without making noise and making noise wasn't something he wanted to do considering that he was completely unarmed. A part of him had been tempted to go back to the body dump and try and find his gun but the chances of him finding it in the darkness were tiny and he didn't really want to go back into that room anyway.

As he walked down the corridor, his eyes scanned every surface, looking for something that he could use as a weapon. He felt the blood in his veins turn to ice when, just a metre of so away from him, a patch of the wall was streaked with dark red blood. It dribbled down the wall and into the water. He thought again about going back but there was probably only one door that lead out of the body dump and he'd taken it. He stepped forwards, trying to move as silently as possible.

The blood streaks grew in both frequency and size as he continued down the corridor. It looked as if whatever had been attacked, had fought violently for its life. Something knocked against his calf and with immense trepidation, he looked down. He fought the urge to vomit when he saw that it was a ragged, messy lump of meat with what looked like the remains of a human hand attached to it. Further down the corridor, he could see more dark lumps in the water.

He paused. Thinking that he'd heard something. And he was right. There was movement in the water that wasn't him. It sounded like it was further up the corridor and it was impossible to tell whether it was human or not. There were no other sounds but that of its movement through the water, much like his own. His heart hammered in his chest. He needed a weapon and he needed one fast if he was going to stand any sort of chance against what was ahead. It was highly likely that whatever it was had attacked the person who was now floating around him in bits.

His left boot suddenly came into contact with something hard, almost making him stumble. He squinted in the half-light and could just about see something round on the floor underneath the water. With slightly trembling fingers, he reached down and picked it up. His hand closed around cold metal. He pulled it out of the water. A valve handle! And a heavy one at that. It had obviously been torn from the wall during the struggle. It wasn't an ideal weapon but it would do.

The splashing noise was louder now. Whatever was making it was coming for him. He flattened himself against the wall, wincing slightly as his back hit the cold surface. Above him, fixed to the ceiling, were more pipes. There was a chance he could get up there and press himself to the ceiling. The lack of bright lights would certainly help to hide him but he was pretty sure whatever it was would smell him anyway. His clothes, arms and face were covered in a disgusting mix of fluids from the bodies that he'd landed on and he smelt foul. He was certain that whatever it was would have to have no sense of smell in order to ignore his stench.

He froze as a deep throaty growl rumbled down the corridor. He saw movement in the shadows ahead of him. His hands tightened their grip on the valve handle. His body moved into an attack stance as the splashing grew louder and louder until he finally caught sight of the thing that had torn the body into pieces.

It stood mere metres away from him, taking up a large portion of the corridor's limited space. The creature reminded him of the ones he'd met in Wesker's recreation of the mansion. Hunters, Chris had called them. Only, unlike the Hunters, this creature was taller by at least a clear foot. It resembled a giant crab, hard shell plating covering most of its body. It stood on two, thick, solid looking legs. Its arms, again heavily plated, ended in vicious looking pincers that were covered in blood. It didn't appear to have a head. Its torso was topped instead by a large disc shaped shell that acted like a hood to a small, pink face, which appeared to be the only part of it that wasn't armoured. Leon could see a row of thick, sharp teeth sticking out either side of a dark vertical line that was its mouth.

It appeared to have noticed him as it let out another throaty growl. A thick tail that hung between its legs twitched, little spines quivering all the way along it. Its pincers opened and closed again, flexing whilst it considered its attack. Leon considered his own options. There was no way the valve handle would be able to crack the shell, no matter how hard he swung it. By the looks of it, the plating was at least an inch thick. Its weak spot seemed to be its face and if Leon had had a gun at his disposal, then he would've been able to hit the damn thing square in its face and killed it.

Without any further warning, the creature lunged towards him. One small mercy was that it seem to be rather slow and lumbering. It shambled down the corridor towards him. Leon swung the valve handle as hard as he could, hitting it directly in its exposed face. It let out a cry of pain and stumbled backwards. It's flailing arms struck out and Leon had to duck to avoid them. He swung the valve handle again, this time aiming at the creature's knees. He hit his target, sweeping its legs and the creature fell, letting out another surprised cry. One of its claws glanced Leon's leg, cutting into his thigh. He hissed in pain as he felt the blood start to trickle down his skin.

The creature was down on its knees. Leon swung the valve handle for a third time, hitting it directly in its face with an uppercut. Blood erupted from the mouth, spraying Leon's arms. It reeled backwards, falling onto its back with a splash. It lay there, seemingly dazed. Leon felt the loss of his gun and knife. He couldn't stick the valve handle through its face. It started to thrash around suddenly, arms and legs writhing in every direction. One of the wayward limbs struck Leon in the knee. Leon felt it give way and he crashed to the floor. He put his hands out to break his fall but it didn't stop him getting a mouthful of the stinking, fetid water. It had a slightly bleach like taste and he spat it out immediately. His hands scrambled in the water as he dodged the creature's thick leg.

He cried out in pain when something sharp sliced into his hand. His fingers wrapped around it and he yanked it out of the murky water. The pain in his hand and thigh seemed to dissipate when he realised that he was holding a short length of broken pipe. A short length of broken pipe with a horribly jagged edge. He turned around. The creature was still on its back, struggling to right itself like a turtle. Ignoring the pain in his hand and thigh, Leon leapt towards the creature. He dodged its limbs, which were now moving with desperation, and stood astride it. Using as much strength as he could muster, he drove the sharp end of the broken pipe straight into the creature's already bloody face. Leon's stomach flipped over itself as he heard the sickening crunch of the creature's skull shattering, followed closely by the wet sucking noise of the pipe ramming into its brain. It twitched for a few seconds, its body curling and writhing, before laying still. Leon's hands released the pipe and it stayed, buried deep in the creature's brain.

Breathing heavily, Leon collapsed against the wall. The contact of the cool metal against his back was welcome. It reminded him that yes, he was here and yes, this was real. Reality was so much easier to deal with than the flashbacks and nightmares. He was trained and he was a survivor. He could switch on his instincts and fight his way through anything and anyone. He looked down at his hand and examined the two-inch long gash across his palm. Like his thigh, it was still steadily oozing blood. He turned his attentions to his gun belt and fumbled in one of the pouches for a bandage. He finally located it and was pulling it out when something hard hit him over the head and his legs buckled under him as he felt the chemical smelling water soak him.

"So you never said what was in that diary you found" Kevin said as he, Jill and Carlos left the last office. The others in the tiny block had been considerably fuller than the first one but had, ironically, yielded less information. Computers had been password protected and filing cabinets had been sealed with a series of locks that had even stumped Jill. Not that she'd readily wanted to admit that. Although, it had been a rather sobering experience to find the first lock in god knows how many years that she couldn't pick.

"You don't want to know" Jill answered. She still shuddered to think about the words in that diary. She sincerely hoped that the mad scientist had met his maker. She didn't fancy running into him.

"That is, without a doubt, and ignoring everything that comes out of Chris' mouth, the most annoying phrase a person can say" Kevin replied. They had stepped into yet another glass corridor but neither of them paid any attention to it. Carlos was bringing up the rear, trudging along slowly, a frown on his face. "Obviously I do want to know, because I asked" Kevin continued with a smirk.

"I don't trust this place" Carlos' voice suddenly came from behind them. Kevin turned round and raised his eyebrow.

"Funny that. Given that it's an Umbrella facility" He shot back. "Wow, they really don't really ask for that much in the UBCS do they"?

"Puta mierda de la cabeza" Carlos muttered under his breath. He'd just been trying to make some conversation, actually remind Kevin and Jill that he was there. He looked upwards at the metal arches dotted with rivets that were spaced out along the length of the corridor. "Kinda reminds you of Bioshock doesn't it"?

"What"? Kevin asked.

"Y'know, Bioshock! It's this awesome Xbox game, don't you play games"? Carlos' tone was disparaging.

"No, I make love to my wife" Kevin fired back with a smug grin. "Is that why you're mad at him Jill? Because he's too busy playing his silly video games to give you the attention you deserve"?

Jill ignored the remark and sincerely hoped that Carlos would too. She turned to look at her boyfriend who was currently glaring at Kevin. His nostrils were flared in anger and it looked as though he'd been ready to say something back but had thought better of it. She knew that Kevin's digs about their relationship was getting to him and she knew just how much he wanted to know why she was being the way she was with him. She desperately wanted to tell him and put him out of his misery but whenever she'd tried, she couldn't find the words. It seemed so much easier to continue to push him away than to admit what was really going on.

Jill shook her head. She couldn't let her thoughts cloud her concentration. She needed to focus on their objective and that was looking for survivors. The office area had been deserted and it was beginning to look like the whole level had been cleared out. The lack of zombies or creatures meant that it was unlikely to be a virus so why exactly was the place dead? Could that one crazed researcher have done it? She wished that they had contact with Barry. She wanted to run her theories by him and see what he had to say about them. Barry was good like that. He had a knack of realising if you were barking up the wrong tree. Perhaps she should've listened when he'd aired his concerns about her dating Carlos…

"Oh look" Kevin said sarcastically. "Another door" He motioned to the door at the end of the corridor. "And hark! What joys! It's locked by a keypad"

"We'll see about that," Carlos muttered, pushing Kevin aside. The older man shrugged and stood back, aiming his gun at the door in readiness for it opening.

"You didn't tell me the boyf was a technical wizard" He commented, turning his attentions back to Jill as Carlos opened the maintenance flap beside the keypad.

"Debe ser el cable azul…" Carlos was muttering as he stared at the array of wires that confronted him.

"He used to do bomb disposal for UBCS before he was posted to Raccoon City" Jill explained, half watching Carlos work, half keeping an eye on the door. Carlos pulled at a blue wire, snapping it effectively. The door slid open silently revealing a small porch sized room which was completely empty aside from another small grey door which had a yellow and black sign attached to it which read 'Testing Area'. Kevin moved forward and placed his hand on the metal handle.

"Are we going for it"? He asked, turning back to Jill and Carlos who were being forced to stand shoulder to shoulder in the cramped space.

"We have to check everywhere for survivors" Jill replied with a confidence she certainly didn't feel.

"Even if we risk our own lives? Going in there and looking for anyone could get us killed" Carlos pointed out.

"And not going in there could mean they get killed" Jill countered.

"Nobility. I like it" Kevin butted in. "Come on Oliviera. We're seasoned professionals at this Crazed Umbrella Experiments game. I'm sure whatever's in there we can deal. Besides, there might be some pretty ladies"

"Might I remind you that you're having a baby with my best friend who just so happens to be your wife"? Jill said, a sharp look on her face.

"And I love her with all the love that its humanly possible to give" Kevin answered adamantly. "But there is still a little bit of James Bond in me who wants to rescue the lovely damsel in distress"

"You'll be in distress in a minute" Jill added threateningly. Kevin grinned at her sheepishly and pulled the door handle.

The door swung open inwards to reveal a large and expansive garden. Thick, lush grass stretched out in front of them like a luxury carpet. It was perfectly green, each blade sticking up and shining with the unnatural sort of health that one would expect from engineered grass. A couple of metres in front of them was a large, black, wrought iron archway with an Umbrella logo sat atop, exquisitely forged in the same iron as the arch.

"Oh shit. Are we in an Umbrella facility"? Kevin enquired with mock realisation. Jill shook her head, unable to take her eyes away from amazing sight of the garden.

Looking upwards, she could see that the whole room was a big glass dome with black lead separating the glass into panes. She could see how it would look impressive to some visiting investor. A paved path was beneath their feet, stretching through the archway and turning a corner, becoming lost in a large clump of giant flowers of all colours and shapes. The perfumes emanating from the blooms should've created a horrible mix of heady sweetness but the mixture of scents seemed to blend perfectly. Giant toadstools, the size of trees loomed over them and when she looked into the distance, Jill could see more of them, plus more flowers, stretching off endlessly. Towering over all of this, in what appeared to be the centre of the room was a large purple bulb that seemed to be hanging off the ceiling. It was pulsating slightly, almost as if something was moving around inside of it. Thick, green vines hung from it, tumbling down its sides in tangles.

"This is like no testing area I've ever seen…" Carlos gasped, seemingly as amazed as what she was.

"And how many testing areas have you seen"? Kevin questioned.

"Well…this one" Carlos answered sheepishly. Kevin grinned triumphantly. "It'd be horrible if you had hayfever…" He mused. "Do you suffer from it"? He asked Kevin hopefully.

"I wonder what they test in here," Jill said out loud. Her eyes didn't leave the large plant in the centre. It reminded her horribly of Plant 42 in the guardhouse of the Spencer Mansion. She'd been lucky enough to not have too much trouble with it but this plant was far bigger and looked far more deadly.

"It's not a crazy temperature in here so it's probably nothing tropical" Kevin offered. "I suppose since this place if off the coast of England then they wouldn't waste time creating tropical species to unleash upon the population"

"It's off the coast of Scotland actually," Carlos pointed out. "A lot of Americans can't make the distinction between England and the United Kingdom-" He stopped when he realised that Kevin was no longer in earshot. The former cop had walked off, past the archway and deeper into the garden heading, Carlos assumed, towards the giant plant in the centre. He opened his mouth to say something to Jill but she'd started to walk off too.

Seconds later, Carlos heard her shrieking in shock followed by shots being fired. It sounded like she'd reached the centre of the room. He hurried towards her cries, pushing through thickets of the giant flowers and dodging around the toadstools. He reached the centre of the room; which was in shadow due to the giant bulb above their heads. Jill was firing at the huge bulb. Carlos looked up and saw Kevin dangling in mid air, one of thick green tentacles wrapped around his neck.

"Dios Mio"! Carlos exclaimed, drawing his own gun. He aimed carefully at the thick tentacle, just above Kevin's head.

"Carlos"! Jill protested but it was too late. Carlos had fired his shot. It hit the tentacle in its dead centre, causing it to explode in a mass of green fluid. Kevin dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes, hitting the soil with a grunt. Jill rushed towards him and helped him to his feet.

"Let's get out of here"! She cried.

"Don't need to tell me twice"! Kevin replied croakily, following Jill's lead. Carlos quickly holstered his gun and followed suit. The three of them ran through the garden, not stopping until they found a door, which read 'End of Testing Area One'. Nobody thought anything of it; it was just a relief to find a way out.

The door opened into another small porch, slightly larger than the first one but other than that, identical. Carlos slammed the door shut and leant against it, breathing heavily.

"That was a risky thing you did" Jill fired at him as soon as she'd caught her own breath. Kevin was now sat beside her, rubbing his neck, which seemed to have a thick red ring running around it. It looked like he was going to have a nasty bruise. "You could've shot him accidentally," She added, pointing at Kevin.

"You should know I'm a better marksman than that"! Carlos exclaimed. "I've been handling a gun since I was a kid! Christo"!

"It was still risky" Jill said, her hands on her hips. "Although I will concede that it got us away from that monstrous plant"

"And it's made you actually speak to me" Carlos added. "I think this is the most you've said to me for days" He sighed heavily. "Maybe it's worth taking the odd risk if I actually get to speak to you and get something back in return"

"It's not-" Jill struggled. Her anger had melted away and it appeared to have been replaced with shame. Her hands had fallen to her sides and were hanging limp. She seemed to be having trouble meeting Carlos eyes. Carlos hadn't really wanted to have this out in front of anybody, least of all Kevin Ryman, but it looked like he no longer had the choice. Carlos pushed himself off the door and took Jill in his arms. For the first time in weeks, she didn't push him away. She let him hold her. It felt so good to be holding her again. He raised his left hand and brushed it lightly against her cheek.

"What is it mi amor? Please…just tell me," He said gently.

"Not here" Jill replied quietly. She appeared to brush tears away before turning back to Kevin. "No offence…"

"None taken" Kevin said, his voice still raspy.

"There's a time and a place" Jill gave Carlos a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'm sorry for the way I've been acting and we will talk about it just not now"

"Not when we're liable to get attacked by crazy ass plants anyway," Kevin added for her, massaging his throat. "I'm fine by the way guys," He continued jokingly. Jill and Carlos broke apart and smiled at him somewhat sheepishly.

"So what was your wife's name"? Chris asked as he and Brad left the recreation room and turned into another corridor that wouldn't have looked out of place in the bowels of an ocean liner.

"I think I preferred you when you relentlessly mocked me" Brad answered, moving along the steel grill flooring cautiously. "Although I will admit it's pretty tiresome," He offered Chris a smile. "Don't worry. I know Chris Redfield doesn't do apologies"

"Damn right" Chris replied, trying his best to ignore the guilt. "And I would be delighted to return to relentlessly mocking you. In fact, I have a witty comment for just such an occasion"

"Go on then" Brad crept along the corridor, careful not to make too much noise. Judging by the evidence of looting that they'd found in the recreation room, it was highly likely that they weren't alone so they needed to proceed with caution. Not that Chris seemed to be adhering to that. The noise from his boots alone could waken the dead.

"Well we've been down here a while now and you haven't bailed on me" Chris said with a smirk. "Must be some kind of new record"

"Good one" Brad muttered sarcastically, although he wasn't really listening. Something further along the corridor had caught his eye. A door, set into the left hand side of the corridor. It didn't, however, resemble the rest of the doors along the corridor with their basic designs and simple steel handles. It looked instead like a bank vault. The door was round and had a handle that resembled a valve handle mounted in the middle.

"Is that a bank vault"? Chris asked, obviously having noticed the door.

"Looks like it" Brad answered. "Although it's really antiquated. They stopped using circular doors years ago because of how hard they were to maintain. The doors would sag eventually because of the immense weight-" Brad stopped speaking when he realised that Chris was giving him a strange look. "What"?

"And where did you learn that"? Chris asked. "Guards and Guarding? Security Guards Weekly? Bank Vault Aficionado"?

"They must've used it for storage of wages" Brad mused, completely ignoring Chris' stupid question. He moved closer to the door and studied it. He was just about to examine the lock to see if there was any way he could get it open when something hard and sharp hit him on the head. He wheeled around quickly and saw a young girl, who couldn't have been more than seventeen years old, standing in front of him, a fierce look on her face.

"Oh sorry"! She said. "I thought you were a zombie"!

There was a chuckle from behind him.

"Chris! Why didn't you say anything"? Brad rubbed the back of his head where he'd been hit.

"Sorry Bradley but she was brandishing a DVD case. It's not often you see someone get attacked with a DVD case…I wanted to see what happened" Chris explained with a simple shrug. "Plus, she's only a girl. I know you don't have the impressive muscle tone that I have which, by the way, would make old Arnie weep, but I figured even you wouldn't have trouble with a girl" He smirked as Brad continued to rub his head. "Guess I was wrong" He looked at the girl who was standing between them looking extremely nervous. "Well darling, you got the better of Bradley here so that makes you alright in my book. What's your name"?

"Ginny" The girl answered quietly. Her tone was soft and delicate with a hint of a British accent. She ran her free hand nervously through her thick ginger hair, which had been tied back into a functional ponytail. She was extremely pale, with a smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Her green eyes were dull and had dark rings underneath them. She was dressed simply in a light blue jeans and a black 'Top Gun' t-shirt, both of which hung off her tiny frame. She looked like she hadn't eaten properly for weeks, or slept properly for that matter. She fiddled with the DVD case in her hands. She opened her mouth as if she was about to explain further but stopped suddenly, startled, like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

"Quick"! She squeaked. "Get in the vault! It's coming"! She pushed past Brad and turned the lock with ease before wrenching the thick, heavy door open. She started to herd Brad in after her. Brad looked at Chris helplessly.

"Do what the nice girl says Bradley" Chris ordered sarcastically. He rolled his eyes and pushed Brad through the vault door. He followed him and heaved the door shut behind them. Ginny pressed herself against the opposite wall, her tired eyes suddenly wide with fear.

"So what are we hiding from"? Brad asked.

"The Beast".

The first thing that Leon noticed when he opened his eyes was that he was no longer in the foul smelling, water-logged corridor. The second thing he noticed was that he was no longer in his foul smelling, soaking wet clothes. The third thing, and this was probably the most crucial, was that he couldn't move from the chair he was sitting in.

He took in his state first. He appeared to be sitting on a wooden chair that wouldn't have looked out of place in an office. His ankles were bound to the front two legs with a length of thick rope. More rope encircled his waist, securing him to the chair's back and finally, his arms had been placed behind the chair's back and tied together at the wrists. His tactical clothes had been removed and had been replaced with what looked like light green scrubs. He could feel a thick piece of gauze covering the palm of his injured hand and could see the outline of a bandage going around his thigh. His face no longer felt tight with the caked on bodily fluids like it had recently been washed.

He twisted uncomfortably in his bound state to check out his surroundings. It was a small room, probably no bigger than the average single office. The floor consisted of scratched metal sheeting, dull with age. The walls were a darker grey but with none of the pipes and valve handles from the corridor. It seemed like he was on a different floor of the facility entirely. One that was, perhaps, most likely frequented by low-level staff. It needed to be more welcoming than the lower levels but with none of the pomp and show of the higher levels. It was obvious no potential investor would ever roam this deep into the facility.

Directly in front of him was the door. The same dull grey as the walls but with a porthole near the top. To the left hand side of the door were metal shelves full of different coloured vials of liquid, some in test tubes, some in conical flasks, others in corked beakers. To the right of the door was a small desk. An ancient computer sat atop it but was covered in a fine layer of filmy dust, giving the impression that it hadn't seen use for a while. There was also a thick accounts book next to it that had been left open. He couldn't see what anything said, but the writing looked like hasty scrawled chicken scratch, dephicerable only to its owner. Beside the accounts book laid a stethoscope and empty syringe, which added to the whole crazed doctor's office vibe that he, was feeling.

He jumped as he felt a cool, clammy hand suddenly rest on the back of his neck. Another hand came to rest on his left shoulder. Leon struggled to try and get a look at the stranger but the hand on his neck forced him to remain looking forwards.

"I knew you weren't dead" A voice spoke, male, high and reedy with a hint of a British accent. It was a slightly unnerving tone that made Leon shudder slightly.

"Who the fuck are you"? He demanded, once again trying to twist around to get a good look at the person who had taken him captive. The hand on the back of his neck tightened, the one on his shoulder suddenly digging in.

"You have scars" The voice continued, almost as if he hadn't heard Leon's fierce demand. The hand on his shoulder moved forward and down, touching the spot where he'd been shot so many years ago in Raccoon. Leon felt his pulse quicken. Whoever he was dealing with obviously wasn't altogether sane. "I saw them when I washed you. How did you obtain these imperfections"?

"None of your business" Leon snapped. He struggled to control his breathing. He forced his mind to remember his resistance to interrogation and hostage training. He heard his captor laugh quietly. The hand slid away from his shoulder and came to rest on the top of his head, lightly fondling his hair.

"They don't know we're here" Leon felt the man's breath tickle his ear as he moved closer to him.

"What the hell do you want"?

"Glory"! His captor exclaimed, his hand tightening in his hair so that it tugged painfully. Leon squirmed in his bindings. "Working hard. So hard. Imagining things that most others could never imagine. Watching silently as others gained prestige for achievements that were unworthy of my time…"

"Who are you"? Leon fought to control his voice. He didn't want his captor knowing how scared he was. He knew how to deal with enemies, antagonists who might want to kidnap him for knowledge or ransom. It seemed like this guy wasn't after knowledge or monetary gain. If his thoughts and motivations were as jumbled as his words, it was highly likely that there was no logical reason behind the kidnap. His training had been comprehensive but he felt unprepared to deal with the demands of someone to whom standard reasoning didn't apply.

"I am many things" The man informed him. "I could be so many more. But I am not allowed" He released Leon entirely. "Did you know, for instance, than during my confinement I have studied many things and garnered a much wider interest in the human body than even I ever thought possible"?

"Stop playing games"! Leon felt his anger rising above his fear. He struggled with the ropes but they were tied so tightly that it was futile. "Tell me what it is that you want from me"!

"You see, the thing that they didn't realise is that in order for my experiments to work" Leon heard the man pacing behind him, soft shoes tapping on the metal floor. "I need to play around a little. I lust for perfection" He explained. "For things to be just so".

"Are you saying this is just some game to you"? Leon snarled. He continued to struggle, trying to loosen the ropes just enough so that he could start to make some kind of escape.

"You have scars" The man repeated. "Imperfections" His fingers danced across the back of Leon's neck, making him shudder again involuntarily. "Someone shot you did they not? Your stomach, your shoulder, your thigh. Your stomach, that's perfectly acceptable. Centralized scarring. Your left shoulder scarred. I was worried. But then I saw it. I saw your right shoulder. It's not a bullet wound. It looks like a bite but it's acceptable too. Two scars. One on each shoulder. Your thigh. Only one of them is scarred. I lust for perfection"

A sudden shot and pain flared up in Leon's thigh. He tensed in the chair, letting out a scream.

"Hmm…symmetry"

Leon felt the man's hand cover the wound as he blacked out.


	5. Chapter 5

Notes:- Apologies for the lateness of this chapter! My muse went AWOL and then we moved into a new apartment and had to wait for the internet to be connected. Stupid ISP! Anyway, here's Chapter Five. Thank you for your reviews and your patience!

The Facility Endgame 

Chapter Five

Jill was grateful that the small room didn't lead to another testing area. It lead instead to a small office, obviously used to whoever oversaw the experiments conducted in the testing area. Behind a large oak desk that took up almost half of the wall, was a large bank of monitors, half of the screens showing the garden they'd just been through, the other half showing what looked like a desert.

"Another testing area. Splendid" Kevin muttered over her shoulder. He threw himself into the comfortable looking chair and sighed heavily. A brutal looking ring of bruising was already starting to stand out around his neck.

"Maybe we can avoid it" Carlos suggested. He was standing by a water cooler in the far corner, looking at it suspiciously.

"The only way is forward as far as I'm concerned" Kevin replied. "No way in hell am I going back through that garden" He shuddered. "It's enough to put me off gardening for life and trust me, it was never an interest to begin with"

"Do you think this stuff is contaminated"? Carlos nodded towards the water cooler. He eyed the contents.

"I don't know hombre. Why don't you try it"? Kevin said sarcastically. He turned his attentions to Jill who'd been quietly rifling through the desk's drawers. She'd so far managed to pull out a sizeable stack of folders, as well as a pair of glasses and a chocolate bar. As soon as he caught sight of the shiny wrapper, Kevin seized the bar, ripped open the package and bit off a large chunk. Carlos glared at him enviously. Jill shook her head and opened the first of the files.

"Are you going to read all of those"? Carlos asked, pointing at the stack.

"Skim-read" Jill corrected him. When she saw him roll his eyes, she glared at him. "We're on a fact-finding mission here," She reminded him. "Since we haven't come across any survivors, we need to ascertain why. If there's been a spill or some kind then we don't want to be releasing potentially harmful chemicals into the ocean when we blow this place up" She looked back down at the file. "Now if you just let me get on with it, I'll get through them a lot faster. Unless, of course, either of you two are offering to help"?

"Pass one over" Kevin swallowed the last of the chocolate bar and held out his hands. Jill nodded at Carlos triumphantly and handed one over. Carlos shrugged and leant against the water cooler.

"I'll keep watch," He said grudgingly.

Leon had no idea quite how long he'd been out. Everything seemed hazy and muddled. He could taste blood. He must've bitten his tongue at some point. His stomach was rolling over and over, making him want to retch and heave. He'd had worse pain, he knows he's had, back in Raccoon, in Spain, and he wouldn't be sick if he were just allowed to relax. He could no longer see his surroundings. A hasty blindfold, constructed from what felt like more cotton scrubs material, had been tied around his eyes, tightly.

He looked down instinctively as he felt the pants of his scrubs being tugged. He could feel the bullet wound now, feel it bleeding slowly yet steadily and making his head swim. A cold feeling came over him and he could feel his body starting to shake as it went into shock. He tried to focus his mind, to concentrate, to think about anything so that he could fight it. He'd done in Racoon. He could do it now.

A fresh wave of nausea hit him as he felt rough, calloused hands skim across his bare thighs. These touches were nothing like the touches Chris gave him. They were cold and clinical and sickening and all the more intense due to his lack of sight, like sandpaper raking over his pale flesh.

"Fuck"! He felt a horrible, hot rush of pain as a thick finger pressed into the wound. It wriggled around and he was a breath away from begging, from pleading with his captor to stop to torture. It was against his training. Begging never worked. Some sick fucks even liked it. Maybe this guy was one of them…

"Tell me about the other times you were shot" The man demanded.

"Fuck…you…" Leon managed to get his words out despite the spots that were dancing in front of his eyes. He felt the finger withdraw and rode out the fresh wave of agony that hit him. Chris had always said that he was a stubborn idiot and he was proving that now, his will preventing him from giving in to the ever-present darkness that was on the edge of his consciousness.

"I have been underestimated," The man continued, his finger stroking the area around the bullet wound. "I created the greatest asset this company ever needed and yet what happened hmm"?

"I…don't…know…" Leon spoke through gritted teeth. His whole body was tense, waiting for the invading finger. He almost jumped when he felt a cool, damp cloth sweep across his bare thigh, wiping with almost gentle precision.

"My gas was pioneering" His captor explained as he dragged the cloth against his skin. The other hand gripped the underside of his thigh tightly, almost possessively. "And they didn't understand. No. Not even a modicum of understanding. That's why they would never know that using my own invention against me would make me more powerful"

A pain, a horrible hot, almost blinding pain. Leon bit back a scream as he felt the tip of a blade sink into his wound. He could hear the man muttering but couldn't make out any of the words as the cold blade dug around his searing hot flesh looking, he figured, for the bullet.

"F-U-C-K"! He moaned as he felt the knife go deeper. He could feel fresh blood welling up out of the wound and dribbling down his thigh in thick rivulets.

"They looked so pretty…" The man chuckled. "Blood and brains splattered everywhere…" He twisted the knife a little and Leon screamed, a high-pitched scream mingling pain and terror. It felt like the blade was scraping away inside of him and through the haze of pain he knew what damage the knife could do to him. Tearing, muscle damage, catastrophic blood loss…

Suddenly, he felt something ease out of the hole along with the knife. It dropped to the floor with a little metallic plink. Leon felt fresh blood dribble down his leg and another wave of dizziness assaulted his senses. He felt bile hurtle to his throat and he swallowed it, the acidic taste sour in his mouth.

"Stop…it…" It wasn't so much a plea but a half-baked request.

"Nearly there" The man replied. "Nearly there…" Leon could feel his captor's hot breath on his thigh. He was obviously inspecting his handiwork. "Hmm…symmetry. Yes. So pretty" He heard the click of a lighter. He'd heard Chris' enough to recognise the sound. His head was swimming now. Perhaps if he just gave in then it would be for the best. Let the sick bastard finish his dirty work whilst he was unconscious.

His head snapped back suddenly as something was thrust into his mouth. A wad of soft material, probably from the same butchered scrub top that had served as his blindfold. He didn't have much opportunity to think about why before a brutal, burning pain hit his thigh. It was hot, pure burning heat. Leon knew enough about makeshift field first aid to know that the freak was now cauterising his wound. He screamed into the material, grateful that it was there or else he probably would've bitten straight through his tongue.

Chris leant against the vault door, his gun in his hands. The small room was silent. Ginny was standing in the middle, seemingly frozen to the spot, listening carefully. She was staring intently at a battered looking pink wristwatch. Brad was by his side, his own gun ready, just in case.

"Y'know…" Chris muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "I don't hear anything. I think this girl might be a bit…well…mental" He shook his head. "And you got us stuck in a vault with her…"

"He's gone," Ginny said breathlessly. Acting like there was no one else in the room, she hurried over to a small cot and reached underneath the flat white pillow. She fished out a small, pink hardback book and opened it from the back.

"Yep. She's mental" Chris said, forgetting to keep his voice down. Ginny didn't look up and instead started to scribble something down on the inside back cover of the book.

"I'm not mad," She said eventually. She closed the book with a snap. "The Beast is real" She said it levelly, almost conversational, as if she might've been talking about the weather. Not some cruel Umbrella leftover that could be capable of tearing you limb from limb.

For the first time, Chris looked around the small vault. Any vault-like fittings had been removed and aside from the small cot, there was a shelf crafted from a plank of wood balanced on two old oil drums which housed a portable DVD player and a couple of DVDs. Chris noticed that one of them was a worn looking copy of 'Top Gun'. On the wall above the cot was a collection of drawings on various scraps of paper that had obviously been salvaged. They depicted mainly marine life that the artist had obviously seen through the glass of the corridors, but some were also of landscapes. They were painstakingly coloured but very unrealistic. It reminded Chris of the sort of drawings Claire used to do when they were little. Bright blue skies with fluffy, candyfloss like clouds. Bright green grass studded with vibrant flowers, friendly people with huge smiles on their faces…they were the drawings of someone innocent, like a child who had not yet learnt how evil the world could really be.

"What's this beast then"? He asked, to cover up his feelings of guilt at his earlier comment. She was just a naïve young kid.

"I don't know exactly" Ginny replied. She idly stroked her fingers along the spine of her book. "I've only ever seen it once but it was dark. I know it's huge, taller than any man. It's almost as wide as these corridors. I try to stay away from it," She explained. "I've been keeping a log of its appearances" She nodded at the book in her lap. "I have to plan carefully when I go out"

It was then that Chris noticed the small stack of food in the corner of the vault. Most of it consisted of her spoils from the vending machines they'd seen. Cans of soda, bottles of water, chocolate…Chris' stomach rumbled. Breakfast seemed like hours ago…

He turned his attentions back to Ginny who didn't seem to really be paying that much attention to him. She appeared to be looking at Brad. Chris stared at her in confusion as she started to smile at his former S.T.A.R.S colleague. Chris recognised that smile. It was the type of smile that women usually gave him, not Brad. Brad didn't look too comfortable with it. Well why should he be? Chris inwardly snorted. Brad was definitely nothing special to look at. Not like him. Obviously this girl had some kind of warped view of what was hot, being stuck under the sea for so long.

"Maybe we should introduce ourselves" Brad said uncomfortably, giving Chris a strange look as he noticed the older man staring at him appraisingly. "I'm Brad and this is Chris"

"What are you doing down here"? She asked, not taking her eyes off Brad. It was starting to annoy Chris now. Hadn't she seen his muscles? He stared at Brad, looking for something that he could possibly use to demerit his looks. Unfortunately, rather than let himself go over the years, Brad had, very annoyingly and totally selfishly decided to stay in shape.

"We're working with a group called the BSAA" Brad explained, standing there with his stupid square shoulders and silly toned arms. "We've come down here to try and-"

"Oh Bradley's just the pilot" Chris butted in, waving his hand dismissively. "I started the BSAA y'know…"

"Co-founded" Brad put in with a teasing smirk. Chris shot daggers at his idiotic face with its lack of double chin and wrinkles.

"Let's not clutch at straws shall we Bradley"? Chris pretended to sniff the air with a triumphant smile. "Hmm…smells a bit like chicken in here…" Brad rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Y'see, the thing about Bradley" Chris continue, loving it now. "Is that he's alright whilst he's piloting his silly little helicopters but when he actually has to go down, on the front lines, be a man and kick some ass…well…always been a problem for you hasn't it Bradley"?

"You're a pilot"? Ginny's eyes widened with delight and looked at Brad with what could only be described as pure worship. The way, Chris figured, was the way she should be looking at him, not Brad. He sighed heavily. She obviously didn't realise.

"Yeah" Brad replied modestly. "I trained in the Air Force"

"Ha"! Chris said so loudly it made Ginny jump. "You weren't in the Air Force! I was in the Air Force! Look"! He pointed proudly to his USAF tattoo. Ginny glanced at it.

"What's USAP"? She asked. Then, without waiting for an answer, turned her attentions back to Brad. "Planes look so cool" She said in a dreamy voice. "I've always wanted to fly ever since I saw Top Gun for the first time. They used to show it on movie nights down here. I wasn't supposed to come down here but nobody noticed" She continued with a slight hint of bitterness. "I love Maverick, he's just so cool. Can I call you Maverick"? She asked hopefully.

"More like Goose…" Chris muttered. "And we all know what happens to him…"

"Sure you can" Brad replied with a shrug. It was Chris' turn to roll his eyes. He was beginning to tire of this silly little girl and her obvious mental defect that made her attracted to Brad. They needed to keep moving if they were going to find Leon.

"We need to get moving" He said gruffly. He really wished that he had a cigarette right now. Leon had asked him to give up smoking shortly after they'd got together and he'd managed it apart from the odd craving. He only really wanted to smoke when he was stressed, like now. He'd been quite happy to distract himself from his frankly frightening thoughts but he knew that the longer they took to find Leon, the more chance there was that something might've happened to him.

"You're right" Brad nodded. "Is there anything you want to take with you"? He asked Ginny who was still watching him with pure adoration.

"What"? Chris snorted. "She's not coming, she'll only slow us down"

"She's done alright so far" Brad replied. "And anyway, she knows her way around the place. If anything, that's going to speed us up" he pointed out.

"I know some short-cuts" Ginny added helpfully. "And I'd like to get out of here, probably more than you do" She said significantly.

"Fine, fine" Chris shrugged. Ginny smiled and started throwing a few things into a maroon backpack. "She's your responsibility though Goose"

"Have you guys found anything yet"? Carlos asked with a heavy sigh. He was getting bored of watching the doors. Since they'd entered the small office, nothing had come along to attack them and judging by the silence, nothing was about to either. No-one had spoken for the last fifteen minutes. Jill was too absorbed in the file that she was reading and he and Kevin didn't really make a habit of making conversation. It wasn't like he hated the other man, they just didn't really see eye to eye.

"There's another testing area through there" Kevin answered without looking up from the report he was skimming through. He nodded towards the opposite door. "A desert, judging by this report"

"Sounds great" Carlos muttered sarcastically. It seemed that they were suddenly stuck between a rock and a hard place. They could either go back to the garden and face the giant plant again, or they could go forwards and deal with whatever creatures might be waiting for them in the desert. Almost as if he'd read his mind, Kevin spoke again.

"I've already said. I'm not going back" He repeated firmly. He threw aside the report and stretched. He looked as if he was about to say something else but was abruptly cut off by a horrified gasp from Jill. She dropped the file she'd been reading and sank back into the desk chair, a shocked look on her face.

"There was a child here…" She said quietly, disbelieving.

"Huh"? Carlos said, confused. Children in an Umbrella facility? A sick feeling of realisation knotted his stomach. Children in an Umbrella facility…

"Were they… a test subject"? Kevin voiced the words that had become lost in Carlos' throat. He looked sickened to his core. Carlos felt a stab of sympathy. It would be something that Kevin would find particularly hard to bare given that he was due to become a father himself soon.

"They…" Jill tried to explain but her words faltered almost immediately. She shook her head and was obviously forcing herself to continue. "They started off using death row prisoners…but the researchers were concerned they were going to eventually need to find an alternative source so they…" She took a deep breath. "They decided to start making test tube babies to prepare for that eventuality. They used an egg and sperm from a couple of the researchers…they only ever created one child, a girl"

"Jesus…" Kevin shook his head.

"They didn't even give her a name" Jill continued. "Just a code, G1N1E"

"What happened to her"? Carlos asked. He felt repulsed that he ever trusted Umbrella. Most of the time he could forget that he'd once been part of their staff but moments like this, where the company's twisted truth was revealed, he always remembered how he'd voluntarily become one of them. A happy grunt on their payroll working for a company who could create children merely for testing purposes…

"It doesn't say" Jill replied. She took Carlos' hand and gave it a quick squeeze. "I don't think I want to know…" She cleared her throat. "We need to move on. We need to get out of here and destroy this place"

"I'm more than ready to get out of this hell hole" Kevin said in agreement. He nodded at the opposite door. "We're going forward right"?

"Into the desert" Jill nodded her confirmation. She checked her weapons and straightened her cap. "Are you both ready"?

Kevin stared grimly at the door ahead of them. Jill looked nervous, distracted and it was worrying. He hadn't been on many missions with Jill but he knew that she was always the very pinnacle of professionalism. It had been claimed that she hadn't been the same since Wesker had taken her captive in Africa. Kevin sighed heavily. He wasn't in the slightest bit ready but he needed to be. The sooner they got this shitty job done, the sooner he could be back with Claire and the baby.

Leon opened his eyes, shocked that he actually could. He'd obviously lost consciousness during the cauterisation. A shudder ran through his body as his mind recalled the pain. It had felt like his skin was melting. The evil bastard hadn't let up for a second, muttering away about his quest for perfection. Leon shook his head to clear the fuzziness. The dull, persistent ache that throbbed in his thigh was making it hard to concentrate.

He looked around. He was still tied to the chair but it seemed that the crazed stranger had removed his blindfold and done a disappearing act. He was nowhere to be seen in the small examination room. He shivered, suddenly aware of how cold the room was. He looked down and saw why. The man had removed his scrub top, cut it away and carelessly discarded it on the grubby floor. As his brain woke up and became more aware, an unpleasant sharp stinging edged into his awareness. He looked down and, once again, he received his reason. Tiny little knife cuts were etched into his side, matching the design of the tattoo on his opposite side.

He fought down the wave of nausea that threatened to attack and shook his head once more. He needed to start thinking. He had to escape. God knows what the fucked up psycho would do to him when he returned. He struggled with the thick ropes that were binding him to the chair. It was obvious that they weren't going to loosen any time soon. He looked around again and almost giggled with crazy relief when he saw that the knife that had been used to torture him was laying on the unused gurney, still stained crimson with his blood.

Stupid bastard. Leon muttered. Rule number one of holding someone hostage, don't give them an easy way out. The gurney wasn't too far away. If he put his mind to it, he could slowly move the chair over to it and get the knife. He looked down at his wounded thigh, which had been expertly dressed with a thick white bandage. The juddering, jerky motion of moving the chair was going to hurt like hell. Luckily, he still had the gag stuffed into his mouth. If he needed to scream, he could scream, without alerting his kidnapper should he still be around.

He took a deep breath and started to move backwards towards the gurney. He shuffled the chair along in a clumsy hopping motion. Each movement caused his stomach muscles to tense and his thigh to erupt into a torrent of pain. He could feel the sweat building on his forehead and he bit down hard on the material in his mouth, screaming into it. He pushed himself to keep moving, inching closer to freedom. His senses seemed to be on high alert. He could feel each of the cuts on his side opening up as he moved.

It felt unending but finally, he reached his destination. He stopped, breathing heavily into the cloth. Sweat dripped off his forehead and into his eyes, stinging them. The wound on his thigh ached abominably. He fought back his memories of Raccoon, aching and sweating in the disgusting sewers.

When he felt able, he blindly reached out for the knife, his back to the gurney. He kept his eyes on the door, waiting for the psycho to return. A wave of relief washed over him when his bound hands closed around the solid grip of the knife. He twisted it awkwardly, feeling for the ropes with the blade. He was hit with a new memory, not of Raccoon, but of his training for the Secret Service. He and three other recruits had been tied to chairs in a similar fashion and, just like now, had been provided with a knife just beyond their reach. Their goal was to free themselves in the shortest amount of time. Leon had been the quickest. Afterwards, he and Krauser had joked about the stupidity of it all. How if someone was clever enough to kidnap them, it would be highly unlikely they'd be as dumb as to leave a method of escape within their grasp. If only he'd known then that it actually would come in handy. If only he'd known a lot of things back then…

With a few swift and accurate cuts, the thick ropes that bound his wrists fell to the floor. His hands now free, he set about releasing the ropes around his waist and around his ankles. He gingerly stood up, a jolt of pain shot through his leg and he almost collapsed back into the chair. He gritted his teeth and took a step forward. It hurt like hell but he knew he was going to have to play through the pain if he was going to make it out of the room alive.

He looked down at the bloodied knife in his hand and almost dropped it in shock. The black grip, the dragon etched at the base…it was his knife! The knife he'd dropped back in the lab when the shark attacked him. He shuddered involuntarily. Whoever this psycho was, he knew his way around the place and had obviously been wandering around it at will. It meant that there was a possibility he could've attacked the others, could've attacked Chris…

Through the cloud of pain that seemed to surround him, he could feel a cold, steely determination start to break through. He was going to get out of this room and he was going to find the man who'd done this to him. If he'd hurt any of his friends or dared to lay a hand on his Chris, he was going to personally see to it that he never harmed anyone again.

Chris trudged moodily up the corridor that seemed identical to the hundreds of other corridors they'd trekked down in the past god knows how long. If he didn't know better he'd hazard a guess that they were going around in circles. And the thing is, he didn't know better. Not at all. Hell, they probably WERE going around in circles. He glared at Brad and Ginny who were walking ahead of him. Ginny had packed a few of what she had called essentials into a small backpack and they'd set off on their search for Leon. Ever since then he'd felt a distinct lack of being in charge of the situation. He was the one who should've been leading them not Stupid-Chicken-Goose-Security-Guard-Brad. He looked through narrowed eyes at his old friend. Since Ginny had shown interest in him, he'd acted like a changed man. He was walking straighter and talking more, becoming almost animated when they'd swapped favourite action movies. Pah! As if Brad knew what a decent action movie was!

"What do you think Chris"? Brad suddenly turned around. Ginny looked back too, but only briefly, before her eyes turned back to Brad. God, teenagers were so stupid. They'd fall for anyone who was older even if a hotter, manlier and just generally all round awesomer guy was merely metres away.

"What"? Chris said with a heavy sigh as though Brad was a simple annoyance, which, in essence, he was. Ginny had barely been with them half an hour and Chris already longed for the days when Brad was just his hapless sidekick and he was the macho hero with a body to rival Sylvester Stallone circa Rocky IV.

"Ginny says this room has some vending machines in it that aren't empty" Brad explained, nodding towards a closed door. "We could stop and load up on supplies. Plus she says this is where we need to go to get back up to the next level"

"Great" Chris replied sarcastically. Not that Brad or Ginny noticed the sarcasm. Well, that was hapless sidekicks and precocious wenches for you. Although food did sound pretty good…but since it was her idea, he wasn't about to let her know.

As a matter of course, he and Brad readied their weapons, Brad gently moving to Ginny to one side as they got into a breaching position either side of the doorframe. On Chris' nod, the pair kicked the door open, guns held out, Ginny shielded behind.

At least thirty zombies stared back at them.


	6. Chapter 6

Notes:- Yet again I extend my apologies to everyone who has been waiting for an update! I got hit with a serious case of writer's block with this story but I've pretty much got the rest of it planned out now so hopefully you won't have to wait so long next time!

The Facility Endgame

Chapter Six 

Just as they'd seen on the security cameras, the door had opened to reveal an arid desert with large sand dunes dotted across its expanse. Like a desert, it was hot. Kevin could feel himself starting to sweat underneath his t-shirt and Kevlar vest. The trek across the room was going to be a mighty uncomfortable one. But, he figured, it was better than going back to that garden. He hadn't really relished looking like a fool in front of Carlos of all people, and he definitely didn't want to risk repeating the experience.

He grabbed his gun when he felt the sand covered ground beneath him begin to shake. The shaking was followed by a metallic scraping noise that sounded like a rusty shutter being opened. Metres ahead, he saw a large, black hole in the ground. A metal lid was slowly opening across it. His heart began to race. He knew that whatever that hole was going to reveal, it wasn't going to be good. Jill and Carlos flanked him, fanning out, their own guns ready to fire.

Two large black pincers were the first things that emerged from the darkened hole. A least a metre in length, they were hard and shiny, the inside of each pincer serrated with mean looking teeth. They looked capable of ripping a person in half. Kevin could feel the sweat beading on his forehead. The pincers were attached to two meaty looking appendages, as thick as a bodybuilder's thighs. The head was next, round and flat like a shovel.

"Shit that thing's a giant scorpion"! Jill cried as the creature continued to rise out of its hole.

It was climbing out slowly and purposefully and was strangely hypnotic. The legs and torso followed next, coated in the same shiny black armour. The damn thing was as long as the alligators Kevin had seen on his trip to Florida with Claire. The legs were twitching, scuttling across the sand as it hauled its huge tail out, a tail that was long enough and thick enough to resemble an alligator's. A perfect match for its torso, Kevin thought with a bitter smile. It curled its tail forward so that it was almost touching its back. On the end of the tail was a horrible looking barb that was easily the size of Kevin's forearm. The barb ended in a fine hypodermic point capable, probably, of piercing sheet metal.

"Scorpions…" Carlos sounded strange, almost breathless. "It had to be a scorpion…"

"Carlos"? Jill questioned, sounding worried. Kevin didn't want to take his eyes off the scorpion that appeared to be biding its time, making no effort to move forward or attack.

"I've seen a lot of things…" Carlos appeared to be struggling to stay calm. "But the one thing that scares the shit out of me…is scorpions" Kevin dared to slide his eyes sideways to look at his colleague. He was holding his gun outstretched but it was shaking in his trembling hands.

"Hell this big mother fucker would scare anyone" Kevin replied.

"Flank it" Jill ordered. "Kevin, go to the right. Carlos, you come left with me" She added. Carlos nodded slowly and the two of them slowly started to move forwards and to the left. Seeing no better way to tackle the creature, Kevin started to move to the right. He kept his eyes on the scorpion which seemed to be twitching its limbs idly, almost as if it were teasing them.

Suddenly, Kevin hit the sand. He heard Jill cry out and before he could even see what it was that he'd tripped over, he heard Carlos' strangled shout.

"It's attacking"!

"This thing moves like lightning"! Jill shouted. Kevin rolled over quickly and saw what it was that he'd tripped over. Laid out in the sand was a prone body in a blood stained lab coat. The man's throat had been torn out, the flesh sitting in ragged ribbons. Strapped around the man's face was a black gas mask and pinned to the lab coat was an ID card that read 'Dr Brown'. He heard gunshots and without really thinking about it, Kevin grabbed the card and pocketed it before hauling himself to his feet.

The scorpion was less than a metre away from Jill and Carlos, circling round them, its tail raised. They were firing at its body but the bullets just seemed to ricochet off. Kevin quickly looked around for some kind of weapon and spotted a metal tool box a metre away from Dr Brown's body. Before he could make a dive for it, he watched in horror as the scorpion tensed its whole body before releasing a fine, spray like mist straight at Jill and Carlos.

After a quick scout around the tiny room, Leon had found a few things that would come in handy. He hadn't found any of his clothes but he had, luckily, found his gun belt. He'd strapped it on, still mourning the loss of the Silver Ghost. He'd sort of hoped that the psycho had found that too but he guessed even crazed psychos didn't go rooting around in almost full body dumps.

He'd forgone half of his ammo in the pouches for the medical supplies that he'd picked up from around the room. Bandages, gauze, alcohol wipes and antiseptic spray. He knew that they would come in useful later when he could properly tend to the wounds down his side. He was almost, not quite but almost, thankful that the psycho had cauterised the wound of his thigh which meant that the chances of it bleeding again would be pretty slim. He strapped the belt around his waist, wincing a little at the coolness of the material against the bare skin of his stomach. His search of the room had failed to turn up another scrub top. He resolved to try and find some kind of clothing or else he'd have freezing to death to worry about as well.

He stopped as he heard heavy footsteps. They were getting closer and were accompanied by a low, frenzied muttering. Leon felt his adrenaline start to kick in. It seemed like his torturer was coming back. Tightening his grip around his combat knife, Leon pressed himself to the wall nearest the door and waited, holding his breath.

The door opened and the psycho shambled in. Leon barely had time to register what the man looked like as he expertly tackled him to the floor. The man let out a strangled cry of surprise as his face hit the floor and Leon straddled him, one hand in his dirty blonde hair, one hand holding the bloodstained combat knife to his neck.

"Right you psychotic fuck. Who are you"? Leon demanded, his hand tightening in the man's hair.

"Ginny, are you sure we need to go this way"? Brad asked, trying to keep his tone calm. It wasn't easy when you had thirty zombies staring back at you. Ginny was staring at the horde, murmuring with bloodthirsty lust, her eyes wide with horror. She nodded. "There's no other way around"? Brad clarified. It had been years since he'd had to face off against the living dead. He'd almost, but not quite, forgotten the stench. It made his blood run cold and feel like he had a sharp stone for a stomach.

"There was one other way to the higher levels but the beast…" Ginny started to explain. She let out a squeak of fear when the zombies started to shamble forward.

"Look you two, can we save the girly talk for later"? Chris butted in. "I mean, Bradley, if you wanna die then that's all well and good but can you do it after we've found Leon"?

"Shit. Sorry. Yeah" Brad replied, seeming to come back to his senses.

"Just try not to run away before we floor these guys" Chris added teasingly as he opened fire on the oncoming horde.

One by one, the zombies dropped to the floor and Chris and Brad advanced on them slowly. Ginny followed closely behind and took shelter beneath a nearby pool table. Chris found himself grinning to himself as each body hit the floor, floored by a perfectly aimed headshot. He noticed that Brad seemed slower to fire, almost as if he was hesitating. He wondered how long it had been since his former S.T.A.R.S colleague had fired a gun. He was about to shout out a particularly witty insult when a pool ball suddenly flew by his left ear, barely missing his head. The ball sunk into the right eye socket of the zombie closest to him and it reeled backwards. He shot it and it slumped to the floor to join its fellow bodies. Chris wheeled round in surprise and saw Ginny standing by the pool table, a pool ball in each hand, a determined look set on her face.

"That was some throw" He said, trying not to sound too impressed. After all, why should he congratulate something that was probably a lucky fluke?

"Chris"! She called out, pointing over to Brad who was having trouble. A zombie had broken free from the remaining pack and was lunging at him ready to take a chunk out of his arm. Brad was faltering, his handgun trembling violently. Chris cursed as Brad started to clumsily wrestle with it. There was no way he could risk firing.

"Watch my back" He called over his shoulder to Ginny as he ran forwards. He rushed the zombie and crashed to the floor with it. He straddled the drooling creature and punched it in the side of the head, wincing in disgust when his fist sunk into the rotten flesh. He hauled himself back to his feet just in time to see Brad bring his boot down hard on the fallen zombie's exposed skull. It crunched and the zombie stilled.

"Yeah, that's how we roll in the BSAA"! Brad crowed in triumph. Chris rolled his eyes and wiped his gore covered hand on the thigh of Brad's combats.

"Well that was a pathetic line" He said shaking his head. Brad really was hopeless sometimes.

"Go Maverick"! Ginny called from across the room. She gave Brad the thumbs up. Chris sighed heavily. Obviously it was going to be up to him to show Ginny how a real man handled a combat victory.

There was one zombie left, stumbling amongst the fallen bodies. Perfect.

"I'll show you a real man's line" Chris said as he grabbed his combat knife. He dodged between the bodies. The zombie saw him and lunged for him. Chris spun round so that he was facing the zombie's back. He pushed it as hard as he could, sending it reeling into the nearby sheet metal wall. Chris saw his chance. He stabbed the creature straight through the head with his combat knife. The blade went straight through its skull and stuck into a rather conveniently placed cork memo board.

"Hey zombie! Stick around"! He said triumphantly in his best action hero voice. He spun round to face Brad and Ginny and gave a little bow as though reacting to a standing ovation. Brad was looking at him with what he was pretty certain was a new respect. Ginny was smiling, probably coming to the realisation that it was him, and not Brad, that she should be calling 'Maverick'.

"Ohmigod"! She exclaimed. "A Predator reference! I love that movie"!

"I knew I'd heard it somewhere"! Brad said, clicking his fingers in realisation.

"Shut up" Chris replied, distinctly unimpressed.

Kevin swore as he saw the spray hit Jill and Carlos straight in the face. He quickly squatted down and wrenched the gas mask from Dr Brown's body before putting it on. It smelt foul and rubbery but that was the least of his problems. He kicked open the tool box and grabbed a particularly heavy looking claw hammer.

Jill and Carlos had fallen to their knees, choking on the spray. The scorpion was moving from side to side almost as if it was considering how to finish them off. Well Kevin was damned if that was going to happen. He skirted around a nearby dune and flanked the giant beast. Before it had a chance to react, he brought the hammer down on its thickly armoured head as hard as he could. He heard something crunch and the scorpion quickly skittered away behind another sand dune.

Kevin hooked the hammer onto his gun belt before rushing towards Jill who was still coughing violently.

"Jill! Jill? Speak to me"! It was hard to make her out through the gas mask's dirty and scratched visor. She turned to look at him, her eyes widening in fear. She hauled herself to her feet and pushed him away so hard that he almost fell over.

"Get away from me"! She shrieked. "Don't you touch me"!

"Jill"? Kevin was getting worried now. He turned to Carlos for help but he had his combat knife in his hands and was standing in a fighter's stance, ready to strike.

"Morir de mierda hijo de puta"! He screamed at the empty space in front of him as if he were about to face off against an imaginary attacker.

As Carlos continued to scream obscenities in Spanish and Jill continued to act like a frightened hostage, it all started to click into place for Kevin. Whatever the scorpion had sprayed at them obviously had some form of hallucinogen in it. By the way they were acting, it seemed that Jill thought she was back in Wesker's clutches in Africa and Carlos was convinced he was back on the streets of South America.

"Just what I need" Kevin muttered to himself. He turned around when he heard a loud hiss come from behind him. The scorpion was back and, judging by the way its tail was arched over again, it wanted revenge. "Oh great, you're back" He grinned as an idea hit him. "Do your worst buddy"

He started to back away. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Carlos having an imaginary knife fight and Jill crouched on the sand sobbing. The scorpion was advancing on him, obviously getting ready to hit him with some of its toxic spray. If his idea was going to work, he needed to get the creature away from Jill and Carlos. He continued to back up, as fast as he dared, and the scorpion followed, its tail waving menacingly.

When he'd enticed it away from Jill and Carlos and was a safe distance away from anything that might possibly catch fire, Kevin grabbed an incendiary grenade from one of his pockets and pulled the pin. He tossed it in the scorpion's direction and, following the next part of his plan, ran like hell as the creature burst into flames. He darted behind a sand dune and watched as the flames licked the creature's body, causing it to hiss and thrash around in pain.

"Smoking…" He muttered.

When he was certain that it was dead, he turned his attentions back to Carlos and Jill.

Jill appeared to be swapping between cowering away from 'Wesker' and trying her best to fight him off. Carlos was still attacking thin air and shouting in Spanish. Kevin had no idea how long the effects of the spray were supposed to last. He hoped that they weren't permanent or he'd really be in trouble. He stood, hands on his hips, wondering what the hell he was going to do. He supposed he could stay a safe distance and wait it out unless…

The doctor's body!

Kevin ran back to Dr Brown's body and started to rifle through the dead man's pockets. In the left pocket of his lab coat, he came across a small leather zip-up pouch. He unzipped it quickly and opened it out. Strapped inside were three syringes in a row, each containing the same clear liquid. On each syringe, was a handwritten sticker which said 'antitoxin'. Kevin stared at the contents of the pouch as a suddenly doubt entered his mind. They were in the middle of an Umbrella facility. Could he really trust what was written on the side of a syringe? What if he injected them and it turned out that it was something entirely different?

He sighed heavily and tossed the leather pouch to one side. It wasn't worth the risk. It looked like he was going to have to wait it out. There wasn't much else he could do. If it looked like Jill and Carlos weren't getting any better then he was going to have to come up with another plan but he'd worry about that if it came to it. He moved away from Dr Brown's body and sat himself down on the top of a nearby sand dune. He sincerely hoped that the scorpion didn't have any friends or family to avenge its untimely death.

"Who the fuck are you"? Leon asked again, pressing the flat of his knife into the psycho's neck. He really didn't want to kill the guy without getting some answers from him first. His captive struggled underneath his weight, trying to free his arms to strike him but Leon kept him pinned.

"I am the master"! The man cried as Leon's hand tightened in his dirty blonde hair. "And I crave perfection! You don't understand! You won't ever understand"! He screamed as he writhed around, still trying his best to throw Leon off. "It was my gas! All mine"!

"What gas"? Leon demanded. It was becoming all too obvious that it was impossible to get a straight answer out of the man. He was obviously just some Umbrella lackey that had been driven mad, probably due to one of his own experiments gone wrong or being used against him.

"No-one understands"! The man continued to rant. "I was destined for great things! For perfection! For glory"! He continued to struggle wildly.

"What's your name"? Leon asked, hoping to at the very least, get that out of him.

"Leon"!

A familiar voice suddenly distracted him. If the psycho answered his question, Leon didn't hear the answer. He'd twisted around and come face to face with Chris, Brad and some teenage girl.

"Chris"! Leon exclaimed. A huge wave of relief washed over him at the sight of his lover, dressed and in one piece. The psycho took advantage of the sudden distraction and struggled violently, finally managing to dislodge himself from Leon's weight. Leon crashed to the floor and the psycho leapt to his feet, racing to the other end of the room as fast as his feet could carry him. He pulled a gun out of the pocket of his yellowed, stained lab coat and, with a twisted smile, pointed it directly at them.

"Nobody move"! He shrieked, breathing heavily. He had pale, watery eyes that exuded a sinister air. Seeing them for the first time sent a shiver down Leon's spine.

"Who the fuck are you"? Chris demanded, helping Leon to his feet.

"Get your arms up in the air"! The psycho ordered, the gun quivering in his grasp. His other hand was opening a nearby drawer and he started to rummage through it blindly, his eyes and his aim never leaving them.

"Leon! You're bleeding"! Chris' arm was wound around Leon's waist protectively. His deep brown eyes were scrutinising the cuts along Leon's side which were slowly oozing blood.

"I will not be ignored"! The psycho shouted, still rummaging through the depths of the drawer.

"Would you stop flapping your lid? The adults are talking!" Chris demanded, sounding bored. Leon smiled. Even if some psychopath was toting a gun, Chris never lost his attitude. He wanted to throw his arms around the older man and hug him. "Who the hell is this guy anyway"? He asked. He glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "Probably doesn't have enough strength in that limp noodle he calls a forearm to pull a trigger"

"He's crazy" Leon answered. He motioned to the cuts. "He did this and he's pointing a gun at us so we should probably start to take him seriously"

"He's Archie" Ginny piped up. "Archibald Spencer, one of the head researcher's of the whole facility"

"SILENCE"! Spencer roared. "You know nothing"! He giggled, a gut-wrenching, unhinged giggle as his hand closed around something in the drawer. "I always said you knew too much little girl"

"Now try saying something that actually makes sense" Chris interrupted, still seemingly hell bent on completely ignoring Spencer as a threat. He turned to regard Ginny. "Wait a sec, did you say Spencer? Spencer as in the mansion guy"? He snorted. "Guess being a crazy asshole runs in the family"

"I SAID SILENCE"!

"Look Spencey. You aren't the first person to have ever pointed a gun at me" Chris sighed heavily as though he was talking to some irksome child. "If I had a dollar for every gun pointed at me then I wouldn't have been banned from Blockbuster because I would've had the money to pay all those late rental fees so would you kindly turn around so I can get on with kicking your ass"?

"I never noticed this" Brad whispered to Leon. "But Chris has a certain way with words don't you think"?

"Oh yeah" Leon muttered sarcastically. "He's a regular Walt Whitman…" He picked his bloodstained knife up from the floor. The movement seemed to agitate Spencer who cocked his gun. Leon heard the audible click as the psycho released the safety catch on the gun.

With well trained, lightning like reflexes, Leon threw his combat knife in Spencer's direction. Spencer let out a shriek of surprised pain when the knife sailed smoothly towards him before sinking deeply into his left shoulder. He dropped the gun with a clatter. Leon darted forward, seizing his chance and sweeping Spencer's legs out from under him. Spencer fell to the floor and Chris rushed forward, his gun pointing directly at Spencer's forehead.

"Right fucker. You're gonna give us some answers" Chris ordered as Spencer lay on the floor, seemingly sobbing with pain, his hands over his face. The muffle of his hands however, proved to be deceiving. As he moved them away from his face, his huge smile was became clear. His pale, liquid eyes looked straight up at Chris.

"Too late, too late, too late" He chanted, smiling even wider. He opened the fist that had been hidden in the drawer. Inside it was an empty syringe. A dribble of blood dripped from an injection site on his inner wrist.

"So you've injected yourself with something"? Chris asked in a mocking tone. "And your going to turn into some monster that's gonna be all hard to kill? Couldn't you at least try to find a new trick cos that one's getting old…"

Leon had retrieved the gun that Spencer had been toting and he too was aiming for the crazed scientist's forehead. Spencer continued to grin as he tried to get to his feet. Chris kicked him hard in the ribs. Spencer curled into a ball, blood steadily oozing from the wound on his shoulder.

"I don't think so" Chris said sharply. "If you try to run, I've got six little friends and they can all run faster than you can…"

"From Dusk Til Dawn"! Ginny piped up, startling Brad and making him jump. "I love that movie"!

"Shut up"! Chris hissed through clenched teeth. He looked over at Leon who was smiling at him, a teasing look dancing across his features. Chris narrowed his eyes at his lover.

"Looks like you need some new lines" Leon said with a smirk.

"Leon"! Brad cried out. Leon's attention snapped to Brad and then down to his own feet. Spencer was going for him. He'd pulled the knife from his shoulder and was aiming for Leon's thigh. Before he could even swing back the knife, a bullet hit him in the side of his head, sending blood spurting, hitting both Chris and Leon. Spencer's now lifeless body slumped to the floor, the knife slipping out of his grasp. Leon stared down at it in shock for a few moments before finally coming to his senses. He looked back at Brad who was still holding his smoking gun.

"Oh Maverick that was so brave"! Ginny gushed.

"Thanks Brad" Leon nodded at the former S.T.A.R.S officer gratefully. Brad shrugged modestly, placing his gun back into its holster.

"Well look at that"! Chris exclaimed. "Bradley can actually shoot"! He teased. He was all bravado as he clapped his hand down on Brad's shoulder but Leon saw the brief but grateful squeeze that followed.

Within seconds, Chris was back at Leon's side and pulling him into a gentle hug, careful not to press on the cuts that ran down the length of his side. Leon grabbed Chris' stubbled chin and kissed him hard.

"Don't you ever fall down a fucking chute again Kennedy" Chris warned, breaking the kiss reluctantly.

"Wouldn't dream of it Redfield" Leon replied in a mocking tone. Chris smiled but the smile quickly turned serious.

"We need to get you sorted out" He said, tugging Leon towards the old gurney. Out of the corner of his eye, Leon could see the girl practically hanging off Brad's arm, begging him to tell her how to fire a gun and repeating over and over how brave he was.

"Someone's got a crush…" Leon said, wincing in pain as Chris sat him down on the gurney. He rummaged in his gun belt for the first aid supplies that he'd looted and handed them over.

"Are you ok"? Chris asked as if Leon hadn't just spoken. He tore open a couple of the gauze pads and began to gently wipe the blood from the cuts.

"Fine" Leon answered, trying not to sound as annoyed as he felt. He knew that Chris meant well and he knew that if the situation was reversed, he'd be asking the exact same question, but it was irritating all the same. He knew what connotations the simple question had. Chris was really asking if his PTSD was getting to him.

"Fucking psycho" Chris muttered, spraying the wounds with the antiseptic spray. "He didn't do anything else did he"?

"No" Leon lied quickly. "He didn't get the chance"

"Good" Chris grunted. He unpacked a bandage and started to wind it round Leon's body. He gave Spencer's dead body a contemptuous look. "Guess I should've taken him a bit more seriously"

"He kept talking about a gas" Leon said, quickly changing the subject. He knew from their experiences in Africa that distraction was the best way to steer Chris away from his dark thoughts. "I don't suppose you and Brad came across anything"?

"Nope" Chris shook his head. "We came straight down to the lower levels after you fell down the chute" He secured the bandages with some medical tape. "Jill could've found something though"

Leon opened his mouth to ask whether or not Chris had worked out why Jill was acting so strangely around Carlos but he was prevented from speaking by a sudden loud scraping noise, echoing along the corridor outside. Ginny had stopped her chatter and was clinging onto Brad fearfully.

"What the hell is that"? Leon asked Chris.

"The Beast" Chris answered grimly.


	7. Chapter 7

Notes:- Hello there! Lame Excuse For Not Updating No.32 – I started a new job! Sorry folks!

The Facility Endgame

Chapter Seven

Jill was the one who came to her senses first. She'd let out one last agonising sob, a final plea to be left alone before she'd collapsed onto the sand. Kevin had rushed to her side and lifted her into his arms, carefully carrying her across the sands until they reached the opposite door. With great difficulty, he'd managed to open the door and lay Jill down on the floor of what appeared to be a small observation room.

He was just about to hurry back to check on Carlos when Jill moaned softly, her eyelids fluttering.

"Carlos"?

"Sorry, it's his hotter, smarter and all round better alternative" Kevin replied, kneeling by her side.

"What happened"? Jill asked, trying to sit up. Kevin helped her, letting her lean against him.

"That giant scorpion attacked you" Kevin explained, feeling her forehead. She didn't seem to be hot or feverish. But then, he didn't really know much about medical matters. Claire had bought a first aid manual and he'd flicked through it hoping to find some gory pictures but that was about it. "It sprayed something in your face and then you started to freak out"

"Oh god…" Jill slumped against him, her hand over her mouth. Kevin grinned at her reassuringly.

"Don't worry, you didn't make that big an ass of yourself and nowhere near as big an ass as Oliviera," He teased. He expected Jill to laugh or at the very least tell him to shut up but she stayed silent. He looked down at her and was surprised to see tears in her eyes, the hand that was by her mouth beginning to tremble. He wrapped his arms around her. "What's wrong"?

"My baby…" She muttered, the tears breaking free and rolling down her cheeks. "The spray…"

"What the-"? Kevin frowned, baffled. "Jill, what are you talking about? You're not making sense…"

"My baby"! Jill cried, turning around in his grip and clinging on to the front of his t-shirt tightly. Her eyes were wide with worry and wet with tears. "I'm pregnant Kevin! What if that spray hurt my baby"?

"We need to move"! Ginny said urgently. She was holding Brad's hand, squeezing it tightly, her eyes wide with fear.

"Where"? Brad asked.

"What's the Beast"? Leon looked as Chris questioningly. The older man had finished attending to his wounds and had done a pretty admirable job at getting him fixed up. Chris had even offered Leon the black vest that he'd been wearing underneath his t-shirt. Even though it practically hung off him and he'd still be freezing cold, Leon accepted it gratefully, figuring that it was better than nothing.

"You don't wanna know" Chris answered.

"Which way should we go"? Brad asked Ginny who appeared to be deep in thought. She nibbled her bottom lip for a moment before answering.

"If we go out of this room and turn left in the corridor, we'll come to a lift that will take us back up to the executive levels"

"Right where we need to be," Brad replied with a grin. He turned to Chris, smiling smugly at him. "See? I told you it was a good idea to bring her along"

"Wow Bradley" Chris said sarcastically. "You've finally done something to help us" He shrugged dismissively. "Makes a change from flying away in a helicopter I guess"

Leon shook his head, flashed an apologetic look at Brad and moved back to Spencer's body. He picked up the gun from where Spencer had dropped it when he'd fallen. To his surprise, he recognised it right away. The Silver Ghost! He turned it over in his hands, grateful to be reunited with the weapon that had seen him through a lot of shit. He put it back into his holster and retrieved his knife from the dead man's shoulder, wiped it down, and slipped it back onto his belt.

"Guess psychos do like rooting around in body dumps" He muttered to himself.

"What"? Kevin gasped, unable to believe what he'd just heard. "You're pregnant? What? How?…I mean, shit Jill"!

"I know" She nodded tearfully before fiercely wiping her eyes. "I came as a shock to me too. We weren't trying. I wasn't even sure I wanted to be a mother. But now…oh god Kevin, what if that stuff harmed my baby"?

"Does Carlos know"? Kevin asked. He felt like he needed a lie down himself. He wanted to reassure Jill, calm her down and tell her that no, there was no way that the spray harmed her baby but he couldn't. Selfishly, he felt a rush of anxiety for his own unborn child and hoped that Claire was being well looked after at Barry's cabin.

"No" Jill answered, her hand rubbing her stomach. She looked away from Kevin's gaze. "I didn't want to tell him…we've never talked about children and I was worried he wouldn't want the baby…"

"Is that why you've been acting so weird with him"? Jesus women were complicated! He'd always figured that pregnancy was up there alongside weddings with the things woman liked to gush and get all sentimental about.

"Kevin"? Jill looked around with a frown. "Where IS Carlos"?

"In the middle of a street fight I think" Kevin answered. Jill looked at him as if he'd gone mad. "Will you be alright here if I go and get him"? She nodded and he set off dutifully. He'd just reached the door when her voice stopped him.

"You won't tell him will you"? She couldn't quite meet his eyes. "I don't want him to find out this way"

Kevin nodded and stepped back out into the desert, his gun drawn. He dodged around the sand dunes keeping an eye out for any more giant scorpions. He found Carlos lying on his back in the sand, a few metres away from the door. Kevin approached him gingerly although it seemed like he was no longer in the mood for starting street fights.

"Yo Oliviera, you alright"? He asked. It was when he got closer that he noticed the puddle of vomit beside the older man. "So you went for the continental breakfast huh"? He added, nodding towards the puddle.

"Fuck off" Carlos spat, sounding out of breath as if he'd just run for miles without stopping. He forced himself into a sitting position, his eyes widening when he saw that Kevin was alone. "Where's Jill"? He demanded, hurrying to his feet. The swift movement proved to be too much for him and he almost collapsed to the floor. Kevin rushed to his side and held him up.

"She's fine Oliviera, she's just through that door" Kevin answered, steering Carlos in the right direction. He'd never really been a particular fan of Carlos but he was beginning to feel bad, knowing that he was keeping something very private and very life changing from him. He sincerely hoped that Jill would find the guts to tell him and soon. "So" He said, eager to distract himself from his guilty feelings. "Why did you suddenly go all Rocky V back there"?

"What"? Carlos frowned and pulled away from Kevin, now seemingly able to stand and walk without assistance.

"You know, the end of Rocky V? That big street fight he has with Tommy Gunn? You were acting like you wanted to kick the young punk's ass" Kevin explained.

"I don't know what happened…" Carlos replied. "One minute I was freaking out because of that scorpion and the next I was back in my home town and fighting with a rival gang"

"Wow" Kevin said with a mocking tone. "I guess once a Jet, you're a Jet for life huh"?

"Bastardo" Carlos spat. "You're more annoying that Chris, you know that"?

"Carlos" Kevin replied seriously as they reached the door. "Nobody on god's earth is as annoying as Chris Redfield"

"Bradley. Nobody on god's earth is as annoying as you are. Do you know that"? Chris said as he, Leon, Brad and Ginny left Spencer's makeshift lab and entered the corridor. As far as Chris was concerned, ever since Ginny had told them which way to go to get back to the upper levels, Brad was being a smug bastard.

"This way" Ginny whispered, nodding towards the left hand side of the corridor. They could hear the distant roars of The Beast accompanied by the sound of metal scraping, almost as if it was dragging something as it moved along the corridors. With every step they took, Ginny in the lead, it was getting closer.

Leon moved down the corridor, bringing up the rear with Chris, who seemed reluctant to let him out of his sight. The older man's large hand kept brushing against his hip as if he was reassuring himself that Leon was still there and not some figment of his imagination. Leon was trying his hardest to walk normally, though the pain in his thigh made it difficult. It felt good to be reunited with the Silver Ghost though. Just gripping it in his hand made him feel a hell of a lot safer.

The heavy footsteps became rumbles as they reached the lift. Ginny pressed the call button with shaking fingers as Leon and Chris turned to face the corridor, guns raised.

"So what happened to all of the staff here"? Brad asked gently, as they waited for the lift.

Brad didn't get his answer, in a cacophony of noise, and a shower of twisted metal and glass, a huge black blur burst through the door of Spencer's room. Ginny shrieked, Brad gasped and, reflexively, Leon and Chris opened fire.

It was like nothing they'd ever seen before. So tall that it had to stoop to fit within the confines of the corridor, it's thick, muscular shoulders almost scraping the sides. It froze before them, almost as if it was sizing them up. It was almost as wide as it was tall, with massive muscles pulsating over stretched, pallid grey skin. Its wide face was covered by a ragged black hood with one eye hole cut into it and its tree trunk like arms were peppered with abrasions that had scabbed over, the scabs thick and black. It was dragging a large piece of a metal girder that looked like it had been torn from a support structure.

"Wow, pretty accurate drawing"! Chris shouted to Ginny over the sound of their fire. The Beast was merely batting away the bullets as though they were minor annoyances. The ones that did manage to hit simply bounced off its leathery, dead-looking skin.

There was a ding as the lift arrived and the group backed into it. The Beast let out a horrible roar and began to charge as the lift doors slid shut.

"Oh, so that's The Beast" Leon remarked as the carriage started to move upwards. The whole lift shook as The Beast crashed into the lift shaft below them.

"I could've had him" Chris shrugged confidently. "Could've punched him straight in the jaw…"

"Oh Maverick! I was so scared" Ginny said breathlessly, clinging onto Brad who was holding her close in an effort to comfort her.

"It's ok Ginny" Brad replied soothingly. "It charged straight into the lift shaft's walls. It probably knocked itself out"

"Oh yeah"! Chris said as if he'd just come to an obvious realisation. "I forgot that you're the expert on Umbrella's monsters! I suppose you get a chance to have a good look at them whilst running in the opposite direction," He teased. "Although I will give you your due Bradley. You managed to stay with us just then"

Brad looked as though he was going to say something but obviously thought better of it. He simply shook his head and rolled his eyes. Chris grinned at Leon smugly. Leon leant against the wall of the lift, trying his best to ignore the throbbing in his thigh. In an instant, Chris' arms wrapped around his waist, taking care to avoid the cuts running the length of his side.

"We were supposed to be married by now," Chris said with a small sigh, leaning in close so that Leon felt as if they were alone in the lift.

"C'mon, you know our life wouldn't be complete without being chased by Umbrella's leftovers" Leon replied with a hint of a smile. He was only partly joking. Chris seemed to sense it too as he leant in further, laying his head on Leon's shoulder, his lips brushing the sensitive skin of his neck as he spoke.

"At least we know Wesker's dead"

"It'll be ok" Leon said reassuringly, reaching up to stroke Chris' stubbled cheek. It was so much easier to ignore the pain when Chris was standing so close. "As soon as we get back to the others we can get the hell out of here"

Chris looked up and smiled at the younger man. Gripping Leon's chin gently, he kissed him tenderly on the lips.

"Oh"! Ginny squeaked.

Her voice made Leon realise that they weren't alone. He broke away from the kiss causing Chris to utter a growl of frustration and lust. He looked over at Ginny who was staring at them openly, her eyes as round as saucers, her cheeks slightly pink.

"What's your issue"? Chris snapped.

"Chris"! Leon warned.

"Nothing"! Ginny said nervously. "I just…it's…just…I didn't know…that men could kiss…" She broke eye contact and seemed to find a sudden interest in the floor of the lift carriage. Leon opened his mouth, presumably to reassure her, but Chris got there first.

"Of course we can kiss you silly girl! I happen to love this guy more than anything and we'll do whatever the hell we like"

"Give her a break Chris" Brad shot back, giving Ginny's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "She's never seen anything outside of this facility. She's only had access to whatever they've allowed her to have"

"You've got a lot to learn about the outside world then" Chris said huffily as he leant against the wall beside Leon. Ginny stuttered a nervous apology and sat down against the opposite wall, as far away from Chris as she could manage in the small space.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the small group as the lift continued to make its slow journey to the upper levels. Suddenly, the carriage began to shake accompanied by a low rumbling sound. Ginny leapt to her feet, immediately grabbing hold of Brad's hand. Wordlessly, Brad, Chris and Leon reached for their guns. The rumbling grew louder and louder and was followed by harsh, heavy rasps.

"The Beast" Brad said grimly.

The heavy breathing grew louder and louder, the shaking of the carriage more and more violent. The Beast was obviously climbing up the lift shaft. They could hear the scraping of its huge girder as it climbed up towards the small carriage.

"What are we going to do"? Brad asked.

"We'll have to get out of here," Leon answered. He couldn't help but smile at Chris despite the sudden urgency of the situation. "As much as you think you may be able to punch it in the jaw, you'll probably just die" He looked up. "There"! He pointed upwards. "There's a maintenance flap on the ceiling. If we can get that open, we can climb into the lift shaft. At least having the lift carriage between us and that thing will buy us a bit more time"

"What about the lift"? Brad pointed out. "We can't climb faster than it can move. We'll have to stop it"

"Well duh" Chris rolled his eyes. "Obviously we'll have to…erm…" He floundered. He looked hopefully at Leon who grinned and continued to explain his plan.

"When we open the flap, the lift should stop automatically" He smiled at Ginny to show her that there were no hard feelings over what she'd said. "You could help us. You're the lightest. Can you get up on Brad's shoulders and open the flap"?

"Sure" Ginny nodded bravely just as The Beast let out another fearsome roar. She leapt up onto Brad's back and he supported her as she slowly managed to get a foothold on his shoulders. She almost fell when The Beast thumped the underside of the lift carriage, causing it to judder dangerously on its cables. Leon steadied her and she twisted the catch on the flap. With one hard push, it opened and the lift suddenly stopped. She wobbled and fell, letting out a squeak of relief when Leon deftly caught her and helped her back to her feet. She blushed violently and smiled at him shyly.

"Right, let's get the fuck out of here"! Chris said. The growling of The Beast was even louder now and it was obvious that the only thing between them and it was the floor of the lift carriage, which it was banging on insistently.

"Off you go Ginny" Brad nodded up at the open flap. She nodded and clambered back onto his shoulders. With a small grunt of effort, she hauled herself up and through the hole.

"Give me a boost"? Brad asked, looking at Leon.

"Happy to" Leon laced his fingers together and Brad stepped up into them. Within seconds, he too had disappeared through the hole. Leon remained in position, looking at Chris and nodding at his joined hands. "You're next"

"No fucking way" Chris shook his head as The Beast pounded away at the floor of the carriage. "That thing is gonna bust through any minute and there's no way I'm gonna risk it finding you first" He knelt down and laced his own hands together. "Hurry up"!

"Chris…"

A huge dent suddenly appeared in the floor of the lift. The Beast roared in triumph. Chris cursed loudly.

"Get the fuck through that hole now"! He ordered. The Beast rammed the floor again, causing the whole carriage to shake. They heard Ginny's cry of terror followed by Brad's calm, reassuring words. "You either go up or I throw you up" Chris insisted. "You know I'm strong enough and I'm telling you I'm mad enough so come the fuck on"!

Leon grabbed hold of Chris and crushed their lips together in a heated kiss. For the briefest of moments, they both forgot where they were. When Leon broke away, Chris felt like he needed a few moments to come back to earth.

"Love you" Leon said simply, stepping into Chris' hands.

"Get up there Kennedy" Chris replied with a fond smile, giving Leon the boost he needed to reach the open hatch. As soon as he saw Leon's boots disappear, Chris leapt for the edge of the hatch himself.

There was an almighty crunching noise as The Beast, complete with his heavy iron girder, burst through the hole of crumpled metal that had once been the floor of the lift carriage. As Chris' grabbed hold of the hatch and started to lift himself up, he felt a stinging pain all the way down his spine coupled with a strange pressure of something heavy being dragged down it.

"FUCK"! He cried out, almost losing his grip on the hatch. Leon and Brad's hands were there in an instant, hauling him up so that he was now on top of the lift carriage with the others.

The skin on his back seemed to be burning. He heard Ginny's frightened gasp, Brad's sharp intake of breath and Leon's curses. He gingerly put his hand to his back and realised what the cause of the pain was. The Beast had somehow managed to drag the tip of its girder down the length of his back. He could a bad graze all the way down his spine and the beads of blood collecting on his skin.

"We'll deal with it later" Leon assured him. "We have to get moving" He looked up, quickly assessing the situation. "Erm…you" He said awkwardly, pointing at Ginny.

"Oh! Sorry. I didn't introduce myself. I'm Ginny" Ginny replied with a nod. "You must be Leon"

"Y'know. Now is really not the time" Chris cut in. "Let's save the meet and greet for after we've escaped the crazed Umbrella monster who's desperate for our flesh"

"Ginny" Leon took charge once more. "Start climbing up the lift cable. Brad, you follow. As soon as you see a set of lift doors Ginny, give us a shout and we'll try and get them open. We'll worry about being on the right floor later" Ginny nodded and took hold of the thick lift cable. She started to climb up carefully.

"How are we going to get rid of The Beast"? Brad asked. The Beast was thrashing wildly in the lift carriage, causing it to shake. From the loud clangs and bangs, it was obvious that it was trying to break out of the confining carriage.

"We'll worry about that later" Chris answered. "Just climb"! He allowed Leon to go up after Brad before he too took hold of the cable. The Beast's frantic movements were making the thick cable wobble and judder alarmingly. Chris hauled himself up the cable, trying his best to ignore the stinging grazed skin on his back and hoping to god that they could climb quicker than The Beast could break out of the lift carriage.

"Anyone mind if we take a break"? Kevin asked as he, Jill and Carlos found themselves in yet another one of the glass corridors. Jill and Carlos seemed perfectly fine from their encounter with the scorpion's spray although Kevin noticed that Jill kept stroking her stomach with a worried expression on her face. If Carlos noticed anything wrong with his girlfriend, he didn't say so. Kevin was thankful for that. He didn't know if his conscience would allow him to continue to pretend that Jill hadn't told him about her pregnancy.

"We need to keep going" Jill replied, now seemingly unable to meet his eye. "We still haven't found any survivors and Chris and Brad will be looking for us"

"Are you alright"? Carlos asked, reaching out for Jill's hand. "You look tired. Maybe we should rest for a while"

"I'm fine" Jill snapped. She sighed heavily and shook her head, as if she was chastising herself. "I'm sorry" She gave Carlos' hand a squeeze. "I just want all of this to be over"

"Don't we all"? Kevin replied, tapping on the glass wall beside him. The water outside looked dark and murky and he could just about make out some small shadows moving around.

"It'll all be over soon" Carlos said reassuringly. He stroked the soft skin of Jill's hand, relieved that she was actually starting to talk to him properly again. "Why don't we take that break? We've got our rations. We could probably all do with something to eat. It'd probably make it easier for the others to find us if we stopped moving"

"Never thought I'd say this Valentine but I'm with Oliviera" Kevin piped up, looking pleased. "I'm starved and my feet think it's high time my ass took over from them for a while" He added in an attempt to lighten the serious mood that had suddenly descended over them.

"Ok, we'll stop for a while" Jill replied as they reached the end of the corridor. She hated walked down these creepy glass corridors. She kept expecting the horrible creature to burst through again. Her eyes flicked from side to side, trying to watch both of the glass walls for any sign of movement in the shadowy water. Her feet were hurting, her head was aching and the prospect of food sounded damn good. She was trying her best to ignore her worries about the baby. She longed to tell Carlos but how could she? Babies were never in their plan. She wasn't very maternal and he never cooed over the scans of Claire's baby that had been passed around at Barry's last birthday party. She knew she wouldn't be able to cope if he reacted badly.

She was vaguely aware of somebody talking to her but her mind refused to let her be distracted from its current train of thought. Did she even want the baby? Could she get rid of it? Would it be better to deal with it on her own and never let on to Carlos? It was his child too, he had a right to know…but how to tell him? She couldn't tell him now. They were in the middle of a mission! She never imagined having to tell him she was pregnant but if she had she knew she wouldn't have imagined telling him deep in the bowels of an Umbrella facility.

"Jill"? Carlos' concerned voice finally broke through her thoughts. "Jill? What do you think we should do"?

"Huh"? Jill blinked, back into herself. They were standing at the end of the glass corridor. A heavy metal shutter was down, blocking off the door. Carlos was standing back, looking at it thoughtfully, whilst Kevin was examining the door of a small control box, obviously trying to work out a way to get it open.

"Any ideas"? Kevin asked, nodding towards the blocked door. "That don't involve going back the way we came" He added after a moment's thought.

"Oh! Um…" Jill looked at the control box. "Is there any way to get that open"?

"Looks like it needs some sort of special key" Kevin replied. "I've got mine right here" He grinned, holding up his combat knife.

"I think we'll be better off if I handle this" Jill said, pushing Kevin aside. "There's less chance of injury that way" She nodded at the knife. Kevin pouted, feigning hurt. Carlos smiled at her proudly.

She examined the lock on the control box, relieved that she had something to concentrate on other than her problems. Kevin was right. It did require a specific type of key. It wasn't however, a very complicated lock. She fumbled in one of the pouches on her gun belt and pulled out her trusty lock pick set.

"Fancy a flutter"? Kevin muttered to Carlos as Jill fiddled about in front of the control box. He held up a dollar bill that he'd fished from the pockets of his combats. "Bet she gets that open in less than five minutes" He continued.

"How about two minutes"? Carlos grinned. "That is, if you're happy to just hand over your money. I mean, you do have a little nino on the way" He said teasingly.

"You're on Oliviera" Kevin replied, making a big show of revealing his watch and setting his stop clock.

Exactly one minute and fifty five seconds later, the door of the box swung open. Carlos grinned smugly. He took the dollar bill from a groaning Kevin just before Jill turned around.

"I'll take this from here" Kevin said confidently, striding forwards. He smirked when he saw a row of tools hung neatly on hooks on the inside of the door. He grabbed a pair of wire cutters and flexed his arm. "Umbrella, you have my thanks"! He kissed the tip of the cutters. Jill rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You better hope those things aren't infected with something" Carlos said with a raised eyebrow as Kevin set to work.

"Um…do you know what you're doing"? Jill asked after a few moments of Kevin staring at the mass of wires, his brow knitted together in concentration.

"Yeah, yeah" Kevin waved his hand airily. He looked at Jill and Carlos who were watching him expectantly. He had a rudimentary knowledge of electronics but he wasn't entirely sure which wire he needed to cut in order to lift the shutter. Carlos had already won the bet and he wasn't about to lose face again. He turned back to the box and examined the colourful tangle in front of him. The most likely looking wire was a thick copper one, right in the middle. He figured that the biggest wire would most likely be the one supplying power to the shutter. He raised the wire cutters and began to cut through it.

"Kevin, do you think that's a good idea"? Jill approached him, looking over his shoulder as he tried to cut through the wire. "That copper wire looks thick-"

"Nearly…through…" Kevin replied through gritted teeth, squeezing the wire cutters together as hard as he could.

"Wait"! Carlos frowned, running forwards. "He's trying to cut through copper with the wire cutters? Kevin! Don't-"!

As Carlos cried out his warning, Kevin finally managed to cut through the wire. It snapped it half with an audible snap. The larger half snapped backwards, striking Kevin across the left side of his face. His hands flew to his face and he reeled backwards, crying out in pain as blood spurted down his face. He slammed into the back wall and slid down it slowly, his whimpers of pain drowned out by the whirring of the shutter as it rose upwards.

"I can see it! I can see the doors"! Ginny's excited cries echoed down the lift shaft. "I'm almost there"!

"Keep going Ginny" Brad called back encouragingly. "Stop when you reach the doors. You're doing great"!

"Enough to make you sick isn't it"? Chris muttered to Leon. Leon looked down at the older man and smiled.

"Behave"! He replied. He looked down past Chris to see the lift carriage a few feet below, still shaking and jerking around, The Beast's cries of rage bouncing off the metallic walls of the lift shaft. They were lucky so far that the Beast hadn't yet managed to bust through the carriage but Leon knew it was only a matter of time. His hands and arms ached from hauling himself up the thick cable and his leg was throbbing painfully. Judging by the expression on Chris' face, his back was bothering him.

"I'm at the doors"! Ginny called out triumphantly. Leon heard her struggling. "But I can't get them to open"! She let out a scream as the lift cable suddenly swayed dangerously, causing them to nearly smash into the wall.

There was an almighty roar and Leon looked down to see the rusty steel girder explode through the roof of the lift carriage. It withdrew just as quickly and seconds later burst through again, making another jagged metal hole in the carriage.

"Looks like our friend's getting restless" Chris commented as though he was merely discussing a wayward toddler.

"Are those doors open yet"? Leon called up. He almost let go of the cable in shock when he felt something press into his left butt cheek. He looked down to see that Chris had climbed further up the cable and was resting his head against it as though it were a comfortable pillow. Leon sighed heavily. Had he really agreed to marry that?

"They won't open"! Ginny sounded desperate now. The cable shuddered above as Brad started to climb up to her. Below, The Beast was continuing to perforate the roof of the lift carriage in a frenzied attempt to reach them and Leon still had Chris using him as a human pillow.

"Do you really have to do that right now"? Leon asked, irritated.

"Yep" Chris replied adamantly, if slightly muffled. "It's important"

"She's right" Brad shouted down to them. "The door's won't open. I'm going to have to find another way. I can reach the maintenance control box so I should be able to tinker with that and get the doors open that way but its gonna be a few minutes"

Leon was about to call back and tell Brad to go ahead as it was their best and, probably, their only option but, unfortunately, Chris got their first.

"Don't bother with that crap Bradley! I'll get us out of this"!

Leon distinctly heard Brad mutter something along the lines of 'I'll do it anyway' and the cable jerked again as he climbed up to reach the control box. Below him, Leon could hear Chris muttering to himself, obviously trying to come up with an alternative plan.

"Do you have to be better than Brad at everything"? He hissed.

"I don't have to be" Chris replied, affronted. "I just am"

The cable swayed as The Beast jabbed another hole in the carriage's roof. Leon looked down and saw that the roof was now nothing more than a hunk of twisted metal. He could see that the only things attaching the mangled roof to the lift cable were fragile looking webs of metal where the girder had missed. With every inch of The Beast's movement, the carriage rocked dangerously, the strained metal creaking and whining in distress.

"Guys…the lift is gonna-"

Leon didn't get the chance to finish his warning. With a triumphant roar, The Beast jabbed at one of the supporting webs of metal. There was a sickening crunch followed by the ominous creak of metal about to give way. Leon felt Chris' arms tighten around his knees as the carriage crashed down the lift shaft. Leon couldn't tell whether the accompanying screeching sound came from the carriage or The Beast as it plummeted downwards. The lift cable shook and swayed violently. He could vaguely hear Ginny's screams, Brad's shouted reassurances to keep holding on. Leon gripped so tight that the thick cable cut uncomfortable grooves into his hands.

They heard the carriage hit the bottom of the shaft with a crunch, like a car being dropped on its end in a scrap yard. The lift cable jerked suddenly and its movement stopped.

"Emergency override"! Brad called out. "It stops the cable moving in the event of the lift carriage becoming detached"

"Since when did you become the authority on lifts"? Chris shouted up at him. "That another one of your choice magazines? Lifts and lifting? How about you shut your hole and get those doors open"?

"I'm working on it"! Brad shouted back down.

"Forget it" Chris muttered. "I've got a better idea"!

"Chris, what's this better idea"? Leon looked down at his lover who was wearing his best mischievous grin. He saw him reaching for one of the grenades that was hanging from his gun belt. "Chris no"!

"Doors open"! Brad shouted over Ginny's cheer. "Leaving the shaft now"!

"Shit" Chris said, sounding crestfallen.

"Shit what"? Leon asked, starting to climb up the cable. There was a chink of light just up ahead of them where the lights of the hallway had spilled through the open doors.

"Well, I already pulled the pin" Chris replied sheepishly. Leon looked down. As if to illustrate his point, he showed Leon the live grenade, complete with its lack of pin.

"Shit"! Leon cursed, he started to scramble up the cable as quickly as he could. "Throw it down the shaft"!

Above them, Brad's head appeared through the open doors.

"Are you guys alright down there"?

"Fine" Leon spat. "Chris is just trying to get me killed but he's been doing that since Spain" He added, still climbing as fast as he could, trying to ignore the burning pain in his thigh.

"Hey"! Chris argued. He sounded like he was hot on Leon's heels. "If you remember rightly, I think I saved your ass when Wesker shot you"?

"You got us attacked by that monster when we first visited that place"! Leon shot back. "If YOU remember rightly, I think you'll find that it got me a lovely gash on my side"?

"What are you? Marvo the Memory Man"? Chris sounded exasperated. "Honestly, you do one thing wrong-"

Leon had just about reached the doors when a loud explosion cut off Chris' words and Brad's concerned shouts. The force of the blast swung the cable, causing Leon to crash against the wall of the shaft nearly winding him. He looked up to see Brad mouthing something but he couldn't hear a word he was saying. The only sound he could hear was the reverberating lift shaft and a loud ringing in his ears. He reached up for Brad's hand and the former S.T.A.R.S member pulled him up and through the doorway.

Chris followed a few moments afterwards, a bewildered expression on his face as if he hadn't expected the live grenade to explode. Leon was aware that Chris was saying something to him but against the ringing it sounded muffled, like they were underwater.

"YOU'VE DEFEANED US BOTH YOU INCORRIGABLE OAF"! Leon bellowed for all he was worth, hoping that Chris would be able to hear.

"IT'S ONLY TEMPORARY" Chris was obviously shouting back, but to Leon it sounded dull and muffled. "DIDN'T YOU EVER GO TO ROCK CONCERTS"?

Leon shook his head, wondering what was going to drive him mad first. Would it be the relentless loud ringing or would it be Chris? He sighed heavily as Brad smirked at the pair of them. Chris was sticking his finger in his ear and wiggling it around in a pathetic attempt to clear his hearing. Leon saw Brad saying something to Chris but couldn't make out what was being said.

"NO YOU CANNOT LOOK AT MY CRACK"! Chris shouted incredulously, as Brad tried to turn him around.

"NOT YOUR CRACK, YOUR BACK"! Brad yelled back. Leon hurried over to help him lift up Chris' t-shirt. The girder had left a nasty graze down the length of Chris' spine which, apart from a bit of cleaning, wouldn't require too much medical attention. It made Leon sick to look at it, knowing that it could've been a lot worse. Chris however, didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

"HOW'D YA LIKE MY SEXY WAR WOUND"? He asked, giving Leon his best sleazy wink.

Leon pretended not to hear.


	8. Chapter 8

The Facility Endgame

Chapter Eight

"Shit this hurts! Shit! Shit! Shit"! Kevin sat, slumped against the wall of the glass corridor. His hand was clamped over the injured half of his face. Blood was seeping between his fingers. Jill looked over at Carlos, desperation etched on her face but Carlos just shrugged helplessly. Medical training hadn't exactly been abundant on the streets of South America and the UBCS weren't forthcoming with it either.

Jill hurried over to Kevin, getting down on her knees and rummaging through her first aid pack. She gently prised his hand away from the injured side of his face and although she tried her best to stifle it, Carlos heard her horrified gasp. Carlos moved a little closer. There was a deep gash down the side of Kevin's face, starting somewhere near his forehead, curving in an angry arc across his eye and ending by his chin. Blood was oozing out steadily, running down his skin and dripping onto his uniform.

"It's ok Kevin, it's ok" Jill was saying as she opened packs of gauze and pressed it to the gash in an attempt to soak up the blood.

"This really fucking hurts"! Kevin moaned thickly.

"Well I told you not to cut that wire-" Carlos interjected. Jill paused in taping the gauze to Kevin's face to turn around and glare at him.

"Can you please try and do something helpful"? She spat. "We need to get him moved. Let's hope there's an office or something through this corridor"

"I can walk myself" Kevin said, shakily getting to his feet. "Jesus. I think I'd even let Redfield touch me before Oliviera and I have no idea where his hands have been" He wiped his hand on the side of his combats and slowly staggered through the archway. Jill rushed to his side and wrapped her arm around him, letting him lean against her as she helped him along the corridor.

"Guess it's up to me to find that office then" Carlos muttered as he followed.

"SO WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE THEN"? Chris yelled, so loud that Ginny covered her ears and Brad winced. Leon however, used to Chris' little 'volume problem', barely flinched.

"Will you stop yelling you fucking oaf"? He said. "Our ears are fine now" He added, thankful that the ringing from the grenade blast had been temporary. He leant against the corridor wall, trying his best to ignore the fiery ache in his thigh. Climbing up the lift shaft hadn't exactly helped it.

"So Ginny, do you know where we are"? Brad asked, looking around the corridor. It looked similar to the ones in the lower levels, grey and foreboding, with metal grilles for flooring and metal panels for walls. To their left was a small door with a slightly rusted metal doorknob that looked as if it hadn't been used for a long time. Further down the corridor was a set of double doors, both of which were printed with large biohazard signs. A light film of frost lined the bottoms of the doors, wisps of visible air unfurling from underneath. It was obviously a freezer.

"No-one ever comes down here" She replied. "They did some experiments about ten years ago and something went wrong. No-one ever told me what. I only know because I was friends with one of the handymen" She smiled proudly. "I fixed his radio for him"

"So what are these rooms"? Brad asked.

"Hold on a second" Chris interrupted. "Back up a sec" He turned to Ginny. "You can fix radios"? She nodded, still obviously nervous from his previous outburst in the lift. He rummaged around his gun belt. "What about this"? He held out his radio. "Can you fix this? We've lost radio contact with the others"

"I could have a go…" Ginny replied. Chris grinned and punched the air. He clapped her on the back, albeit gently, and hooked an arm around her shoulders. He turned her to face Brad and smiled smugly at him.

"See Bradley? Told you this kid would come in useful"! He shook his head in mock disgust as he patted Ginny's shoulder. "And you wanted to leave her behind"!

"We're only one floor down from the executive levels" Ginny continued, blushing at Chris' flattery. "There's a staircase at the end of this corridor. We can go right-"

Ginny's explanation was cut off suddenly by a low throaty growl that echoed within the lift shaft.

"Oh right"! Chris slapped his forehead in a parody of realisation. "We're in an Umbrella facility! This is the part where the evil creature comes back and tries to kill us again"!

"The Beast is back"? Ginny whimpered, her hand reaching out for Brad's. As if in answer to her question, the lift cable suddenly flew through the open doors, snaking across the floor like a demented serpent. The ground beneath them shook as The Beast's massive hands grabbed hold of the door runners, its fingers locking into the metal grooves as it hauled his weight up. Chris and Brad readied their guns but Leon was shaking in his head.

"Guns won't work on that thing" He said. "We're gonna have to come up with something else"

"Where's Dennis and his armour piercing bullets when you need him"? Chris asked, slipping his gun back into its holster as Brad did the same.

"Ginny, is that a freezer"? Leon asked, pointing to the double doors. Ginny nodded, her arms wrapped tightly around Brad's waist. "Right. I've got a plan. Chris, follow me. Brad, you take Sherry somewhere safe. Move"!

Chris saw Brad open his mouth, obviously to say something about Leon's orders but he shook his head, silencing him. Now was most certainly not the time or the place.

"In here"! Ginny called, pointing to the door on the left. "It's a storage cupboard" Chris heard her explain as he ran past to catch up with Leon who was now at the double doors leading to the freezer.

"It's a risky move" Leon said when Chris caught up with him. "But I think it's gonna work"

With a roar of triumph, The Beast hauled itself out of the lift shaft and into the corridor. These corridors seemed to have lower ceilings, forcing The Beast to stoop to fit in it. This just made it appear more terrifying as it now seemed to take up the whole of the space around it. It looked no worse from its fall, except for its torso which had sharp pieces of metal sticking out all over it like dull silver spines. It appeared to have lost its girder but had replaced it instead with one of the bigger, sharper section of the lift carriage's ceiling.

It moved forward, slowly, deliberately, as if it were toying with them. Leon kicked the double doors open and he and Chris were hit with a blast of freezing cold air.

"Come here you son of a bitch" Leon muttered as the Beast made its way down the small corridor.

For a moment it looked as if Leon's plan was going well. But, as it reached the storage cupboard's door, it stopped. It made a low, pensive sounding moan as if it had worked out that Brad and Ginny were in there.

"Shit"! Leon cursed. "We're going to have to get its attention"

"Well" Chris grinned, rolling up imaginary sleeves. "It's lucky I'm here because if there's one thing I'm awesome at which, by the way, there isn't because I'm awesome at everything, but anyway, leave it to me. I'll get its attention"

"I'm sure you will" Leon muttered under his breath. He could feel himself starting to shiver in Chris' over-sized flimsy vest but he couldn't concentrate on that right now. One false move and The Beast would kill them both.

"Oi! Mate"! Chris shouted, waving his arms around above his head. The Beast turned its attentions away from the cupboard door. "Yeah! You! Mr Ugly-Asshat! Get over here and fight me like a man"! He boxed the air around him. "I tell ya, I taste real good"!

Leon took this opportunity to enter the freezer. Luckily, it was a large room that had obviously once been used to store bodies. There were a few empty gurneys lined up against one wall and above the ceiling were two parallel pipes from which numerous large meat hooks hung, frosted with white. Lined up against the other wall were the things that Leon had counted on being there. Five large canisters each, according to their labels, contained liquid nitrogen.

"He's coming! And he's pissed"! Chris thundered into the freezer.

"Get over here" Leon grabbed hold of the valve of one of the canisters. It was ice cold and burned through his leather gloves. "As soon as it comes in and gets close enough, we'll tip this over and freeze it"

"Good plan" Chris grinned, running over and closing his own glove clad hands over Leon's. Goose-bumps were already showing up on his arms and his breath was misting with every exhale. "Wait a minute…" He looked at the canister. "This is fucking dangerous"!

"Yep" Leon nodded, his lips quirking in a smile. "Figured you'd appreciate it. Danger's your middle name isn't it"?

"Did I ever mention that I fucking love you"? Chris replied.

"Once or twice" Leon answered cockily. The floor beneath them started to shake. The growls of The Beast grew louder and louder until it appeared in the doorway. It honed in on them instantly, its glittering black eyes aimed in their directions. It snarled and moved towards them, one of its claws raised threateningly. Blood and saliva dripped from its open mouth, hitting the floor and freezing almost instantly. It didn't seem to feel the cold, advancing on them slowly, it's breathing ragged and throaty. "Now"! Leon shouted.

Between them, they managed to hurl the canister to the floor. It landed with an almighty crash, its valve breaking off and spewing the liquid nitrogen directly at the oncoming creature. It roared in fear and confusion as the onslaught of gas hit it full force. Leon grabbed Chris and pushed him back towards the double doors, as far away from the gas as possible.

The Beast howled in pain as the liquid nitrogen started to freeze it alive. Its movements gradually got slower and slower until eventually it remained in the same spot, stuck.

"This is it" Leon said, grabbing the Silver Ghost.

"Now that's what I'm talkin' about"! Chris replied, getting out his own gun. "Let's blast this fucker off the face of the facility"!

Four shots was all it took to reduce the The Beast to a pile of chunky ice shards. One to the head, two to its massive torso and one to the frozen leg stumps that were left. The shards rained down on the freezer floor and for a moment, in the triumph, Leon forgot how cold he was.

"I'd kiss you right now but we'd probably end up stuck together" Chris said through chattering teeth.

"Kinda reminds you of Antarctica doesn't it"? Leon replied as they wandered back into the corridor. He slammed the double doors shut behind them, locking the remains of The Beast away. He leant against the wall of the corridor, momentarily let the fatigue, mental and physical, take over. The fight in the freezer had left him feeling chilled to the core.

Within seconds, Chris was on him, his larger, ever so slightly warmer body pressing into his, pressing him into the wall. Strong arms wound around his waist, slid up his back, pulling him ever closer into the embrace.

"This is how I got you warmed up in Antarctica"

"I vaguely remember" Leon teased as Chris rested his chin on the top of his head.

"Did you know you said 'Sherry' back there"? Chris said quietly and gently, as though the very mention of Sherry's name would hurt him. If Leon thought about it too much, it probably would.

"Yeah" Leon sighed heavily. He'd realised as soon as he'd said it and he'd hoped that Chris either hadn't heard or wouldn't bring it up. "I realised pretty much as soon as I'd said it"

"Do you want-"

"No. I don't want to talk about it" Leon cut him off sharply. He stiffened in Chris' hold. He didn't like the way this was going. He never did. Sherry was the one thing he couldn't, the one thing he wouldn't talk about.

"I thought you were-"

"Over it? No Chris"

"But all of the therapy that you went through-" Chris' words were carefully chosen and delicate, a rare side to his partner that Chris never let anyone else see. But it didn't matter. Leon pushed him away angrily.

"The therapy"? He spat. "You mean the therapy so that I could forget her? I will never forget her and you should know that"! He was struggling not to shout. The last thing he wanted was to draw Brad and Ginny out of the cupboard to hear this particular discussion. Chris hands floundered in the air for a moment before settling on his shoulders, his thick fingers digging in, not painfully, just firm.

"I never said anything about forgetting her. I just-"

"Look Chris. This is something I'm never going to be ok about"

"I know that" Chris dug his fingers in harder, forcing Leon to look at him. "Would you stop fucking interrupting me? I know you're never going to forget her! I'd worry if you did. I know how important she is to you. I'm just making sure that you're alright. Not about her. About now"

"Sorry" Leon leant back in to Chris' body. He was slowly starting to warm up again. "I'm ok. At least, I will be when we get the hell out of here" God, how he just wanted some time. Some time for him and Chris to just be a couple with nothing or nobody standing in their way. They'd come together in such extraordinary circumstances and had been through so much that Leon felt they'd never had the chance to just be with each other. He yearned for the simple things that others took for granted. The nights in, the meals out and the knowledge that they were safe in their beds. He wanted to worry about bills, about money, about what to buy Chris for their anniversary. And he knew that Chris felt exactly the same. He'd been chasing Umbrella for so much longer and Leon knew how tired he was. "How are you holding up"? He asked, his words muffled by the material of Chris' t-shirt.

"Nothing a double pepperoni pizza and a large order of cheese fries wouldn't cure" Chris answered. "Oh and if you're going to offer a blow job then obviously, I'd have no choice but to agree…"

They turned around suddenly as the cupboard door creaked open. Brad crept out, his gun at the ready.

"I heard gunfire" He explained, straightening up when he saw the standing in the corridor with no obvious immediate peril around.

"Yeah, ours" Chris rolled his eyes. "Jeez Bradley, I know you're new to this non-running away-staying and fighting thing but I'd have thought you'd have recognised the sound of two bad ass mother-fuckers whooping some Umbrella ass"

"So it's dead then"? Brad asked, totally ignoring Chris' insult.

"Hell yes"! Chris grinned. "You should've seen me! Boom! That fugly fucker didn't know what'd hit it"! He broke away from Leon in order to flex his impressive muscles. "Obviously my Air Force training played its part but you wouldn't know about that Bradley. Gotta be a real man to make it! Would've been a Top Gun if I hadn't have left"!

"Top Gun is a part of the US Navy. Not the Air Force" A quiet voice piped up. Ginny had approached Brad's side. His radio was in her left hand.

"Well don't you know everything you smug little-" Chris' insult was interrupted by a warning look from Leon. He sighed heavily. "Girlie-whirlie"

"You killed The Beast" Ginny said with a shy smile. "That's pretty cool" She nodded as if this confirmed it. "I think I'm gonna call you Goose from now on"

"GOOSE"? Chris spluttered. "Goose! I'll goose you"!

"What does that mean"? Ginny asked, her brow knitted in confusion. She looked to Brad for help who simply shrugged.

"It means…" Chris floundered. "It means…it means what it means"!

"As much as I enjoy watching you get out-smarted by a girl" Leon interrupted. "And believe me Chris, I really do. I think we should head for these stairs Ginny told us about"

"Goose". Chris muttered disbelievingly as they set off down the corridor.

"In here" Carlos called out. "Looks like some sort of infirmary" He said as he popped his head back out of the door. Jill and Kevin were a few feet away, Kevin now leant heavily on Jill's shoulder. The gauze pads covering his face were becoming saturated with blood and his skin was getting paler.

"Give me a hand" Jill said, nodding towards Kevin's increasingly slumped form. Carlos was by her side in a second, slinging Kevin's other arm around his shoulder. Between them, they managed to get him into the infirmary and laid down on the very basic bed in a matter of minutes. Kevin groaned as his head touched the pillow.

"Am I dying"? He mumbled thickly.

"Nah, we wouldn't be that lucky" Carlos replied as Jill rushed over to a cupboard in the corner of the room, obviously looking for medical supplies. Carlos had expected a lot more from an executive infirmary. He'd been imagining large beds with thick mattresses, up to date, expensive medical equipment and shelves lined with supplies. In actuality, the infirmary was little more than a glorified storage room. Grubby white tiles lined the floor and walls, the grouting between the tiles yellowed. The small bed, with its thin, hard mattress, took up most of the space. Beside it was a hideous orange plastic chair and in the corner of the room was a large metal cupboard containing, judging by Jill's curses, very basic supplies. A lonely strip light flickered slightly above their heads, giving off a harsh bright light which would not be relaxing for any patient unlucky enough to require treatment.

"Where's Claire"? Kevin suddenly regained a surge of strength, grabbing hold of Carlos' sleeve and tugging him downwards towards the bed. "Where's Claire"? He demanded angrily.

"She's at Barry's" Carlos answered, trying to unhook his sleeve from Kevin's grip. "You know that"

"The pain's making him delirious" Jill said, her head still deep in the cupboard as she rummaged around in it.

"The baby"! Kevin suddenly yelled, sitting bolt upright. "Jill! We need to get out of here! We need to know if your baby is alright"!

"Hey amigo, calm down"! Carlos wrestled Kevin back down onto the pillow. "I'm sure your baby is fine. Barry will be taking good care of Claire"

"But Jill's baby"! Kevin argued. "She needs to get out of here. She needs to know if it's alright"!

Carlos looked over at Jill, expecting her to brush off Kevin's comments as part of his delirium. Her back was still to him but Carlos knew his girlfriend inside out. At Kevin's last words, he'd seen her back and shoulders stiffen. Suddenly, it all fitted into place. The way she'd been behaving towards him, the constant brushing off of his sexual advances, the mysterious phone calls behind closed doors.

He let go of Kevin's t-shirt, dropping the other man back onto the hard mattress as he continued to rant about Claire. He moved slowly, as if wading through treacle, towards the supply cupboard. Jill still hadn't spoken, hadn't turned around. It seemed to take an age to reach her, to put his hand upon her shoulder and to feel her tense muscles underneath the heat of his palm.

"Aren't you even going to look at me"? He asked.

"I was going to tell you" She replied, still not turning around. Her hands with busy in the depths of the cupboard, playing with bandages and packs of fresh gauze. That was Jill's way. Keep busy, keep moving, that way you don't have to think about things. You can keep them at a nice safe distance.

There were so many questions that Carlos wanted to ask. How long had she known? Who else knew? How come Kevin knew before he did? And yes, even though he didn't want to think about it, was it even his? He wanted to be angry, to hurt her for the way she'd been treating him when all she'd ever needed to do was open her mouth and talk about it. He wanted to break down, to know why she felt the need to keep something so huge from him when they were supposed to share everything. All of these different emotions were demanding his attention but in the end, only one thing came out of his mouth.

"If you're looking for scissors, they're over there"

Her hand closed around the packet of sealed medical scissors and finally she turned around. She wasn't crying. But then, Carlos knew her better than that. Jill Valentine certainly wasn't the type of woman to give into tears.

"I want to talk about this" She said quietly.

"We will" Carlos replied. "But not here. Not when Kevin needs help. When we get out of here we're going to sit down and talk about this and figure out what we're going to do"

"Thank you" She whispered. "I should've known you would've been like this"

"Yeah, well. We're going to talk about that too" Carlos added. He felt wounded but there were bigger things going on, bigger things than their relationship which they needed to see through to the end.

Jill hurried back to Kevin, who was now lying prone, his body shining with a thin film of sweat. She gently peeled off the bloodstained gauze, wincing a little as she was reminded of how deep the gash across his face was. She pulled the hideous chair as close to the bed as possible and sat down in it, ready to start working on him.

Carlos watched from a safe distance, arms folded tightly across his chest. He'd never been all that good with blood. It reminded him too much of his years at home, the brutal street fights and bloody gang wars that were fought for no reason other than territory. It also took him back to those horrible days in Raccoon City, fighting his way through blood soaked monsters and rotting corpses.

"Is he going to be ok"? He asked quietly.

"We need to get him to a hospital" Jill answered as she carefully cleaned the wound. "But yes, he will be. Although he's probably going to lose the sight in that eye and be left with a horrible scar" She picked up some thread and scissors and carefully began to stitch the wound closed.

Carlos sat down on the dirty tiles, his back resting against the door. He fiddled with the contents of his pockets in an attempt to distract himself from Jill's medical procedures and his confusing thoughts about the baby. His hand closed around his radio which he'd pretty much forgotten about since they'd been rendered useless. Maybe he could have another look at it. He liked to consider himself somewhat of a Mr-Fix-It when it came to stuff like that. He pulled it out and switched it on, grunting with frustration when the usual static noise filled the room. He fiddled with the knobs but the static remained the same, whichever channel he tried to use. He was just about to take the back off to have a look underneath the battery when he heard what he thought was Brad's voice. He looked up at Jill who had stopped stitching and had turned around to look at him.

"That sounded like-" She started.

"You heard it too"?

"Brad"! They said in unison.

"Y'know, I could've thought of that" Chris said disgustedly as he watched Ginny turning the different knobs on Brad's radio, her face a frown on concentration.

"Yeah but you didn't, did you"? Brad shot back as he watched Ginny work with what could've probably been described as paternal pride. There were in the stairwell now and had decided to settle on the stairs in order to let Ginny work on the radios. She was sitting on the top step of the first set of stairs which Brad beside her. Chris was sitting on the bottom step, leaning against Leon who was sitting in the middle. He'd taken hold of Leon's right hand and was idly playing with the younger man's fingers.

"It'd probably be quicker if we just went up the damn stairs and had a look for them" Chris continued. He looked around to see if anyone had taken his comment on board. Ginny was still concentrating on the radio and Leon and Brad were watching her with rapt adoration. Chris snorted. He could've fixed the stupid radio. He just didn't want to. "I bet we'd find them pretty quickly" He added, already sick of the silence. He sighed heavily when the only reply he received was a burst of fresh static from the radio. This was not the time to be sitting around. This was the time to be proactive. He leapt to his feet, fully expecting Leon to reprimand him as if he was a spoiled toddler. Leon however, seemed to be too engrossed in Ginny's repair job.

Not minding who he stepped on and indeed, aiming particularly for Brad's hand, he started to stamp up the stairs, taking great care to put his foot down extra hard so that it echoed in the small stairwell. He reached the top of the stairs with no argument. In fact, he doubted that any of them had actually noticed.

"Hope there isn't any zombies up here"! He shouted down, leaning over the metal hand-rail. When he received no reply, he frowned. "Oh look! Another crazed psychopath out for blood"! He shouted louder. None of them even looked up! He leant as far over the rail as he dared which, being Chris, was pretty far. "HEY ASSBUTTS"!

Finally Leon and Brad looked up. Chris grinned smugly. Leon rolled his eyes and Brad shook his head disapprovingly.

"Ssh Chris! Don't ruin Ginny's concentration"! He warned.

"I'm done actually" Ginny held out the radio. "Give it a try Maverick" She added, handing it over. It was Chris' turn to roll his eyes and shake his head.

"Give it a try Maverick" He muttered under his breath in his best girly sounding voice. It was pathetic! The girl had only fixed a silly little radio! He'd practically single handedly taken out a monster! He sighed. Well, almost single-handedly. Leon had helped. A bit. He leant on the metal rail. He still stood by his previous comment. They probably were better off just looking for Jill and the others.

"Carlos"? He heard Brad saying excitedly. "Yeah! Yeah…infirmary? Sure yeah"! Then, after a moment's silence, "Ginny you're a genius"!

"Ginny, you're a genius"! Chris muttered sarcastically. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Not jealous of a girl are we"? Leon was grinning at him. He looked tired. Exhausted even. Chris couldn't blame him. They hadn't been down here that long but it already felt like weeks. "Aww" Leon mocked, patting Chris' stubbled cheek. "You're still my hero Redfield"

"You're a sarcastic fucker Kennedy" Chris replied. "So I'm guessing the technical wizard down there has the radios up and working"?

"Good enough to reach Carlos" Leon answered. He leant against the railing beside Chris, bending down slightly to massage his thigh; which was still aching painfully. He looked up to see Chris frowning at him.

"Why do you keep doing that"? Chris asked, pointing to Leon's thigh. "Ever since we found you you've been messing about with your leg"

"It's nothing" Leon said, his hands moving away from the injury as if it had suddenly become red hot. "Just a little sore from all this walking"

"Really"? Chris folded his arms across his chest, one eyebrow raised quizzically. "We've been together how long? I know I might not exactly be the brainiest of the bunch but that's a really lame excuse" He shook his head disdainfully. "So, what was it? He kick you"?

"No" Leon said, feeling his cheeks burn. Jeez, he really was tired if that was the only excuse that he'd been able to come up. On the fly excuses we something he considered to be quite his speciality. "Shall we not do this now"? He looked down at Brad and Ginny who were gathering their things together.

"I guess we won't" Chris shrugged, sounding resigned and irritated. "I know you well enough to know that I can't make you so I guess we won't be talking about it now"

Leon wanted to say something to make Chris feel better but, in all honesty, there wasn't much he could say. Chris had a point. He wanted to know, Leon didn't want to tell him and it was as simple as that. He opened his mouth to at least apologise but Brad stamped up the stairs to meet them, Ginny close behind, but of them wearing huge, if slightly creepy, grins.

"Ginny says the infirmary is at the top of this stairwell" He said cheerfully. Brad had been looking drawn and pale, slightly stressed, but now his whole demeanour seemed more bright, more optimistic.

"Great" Chris muttered. "You need to rest that leg or are you good"? He asked, nodding at Leon's leg with more than a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"They're on their way" Carlos said, clipping his radio back onto his belt. "Got no idea how they managed to get their radio up and running again but hey, the sooner they get back here, the sooner we can get the hell out of here"!

"Kevin's doing better" Jill replied, mopping the injured man's brow gently with the flannel she'd found in the medical cabinet. "The bleeding has slowed down since I put in those stitches but he needs to get to a hospital" She wiped her own brow with the back of her hand. The small room was starting to get hot.

"I hate Umbrella…" Kevin suddenly groaned.

"Hey" Jill greeted gently. "You're awake…"

"Right! Where's the patient"? Chris demanded, suddenly bursting through the infirmary doors, almost knocking Carlos out in the process. He strutted over to the bed. "Alright Kev"? He asked, slapping Kevin on the shoulder.

"Chris"! Jill exclaimed. "He's in shock"! She muttered through gritted teeth. "He's probably going to lose sight in his eye and what he doesn't need is you stamping in here and being an incorrigible oaf"!

"Good to see you too Jill" Chris grinned goofily at her before turning his attentions back to Kevin who was attempting to sit up. "Glad she's been keeping an EYE on you eh Kev"?

"Get lost Redfield…" Kevin replied good-naturedly. "What took you so long anyway? Figured you were dead by now"

Jill backed away from the bed, shaking her head at the both of them. She was never going to understand Chris and Kevin's odd friendship. She smiled as she almost collided with Leon, who'd entered the room alongside Brad and a scrawny teenage girl.

"Good to see you" Leon smiled at her. "How have things been up here"?

"Oh, giant sea monsters, murderous plants, injuries, the usual. You"?

"Crazed Beasts, zombies, psychotic Umbrella staff. The usual" He replied. He squeezed her shoulder gently. "Good to see you again. What happened with Kevin"? Leon nodded over at Kevin who was now trying to prove to Chris that he could still play rock, paper, scissors with one eye.

"Copper wire to the face" Jill wiped her brow again. "I've stitched it closed as best as I could but he needs to get to a hospital" She sighed. "I thought he was in shock but he seems to be alright" She looked back at Leon and frowned. "Why are you wearing scrub pants and Chris' vest"?

"Long story" Leon replied. "Did you find any survivors"?

"No. Looks like everyone got out" She shrugged. "Whatever the hell happened here"

"I know" A quiet, mousy voice spoke, startling Jill. The young teenage girl stepped forward, still clinging onto Brad's hand. She smiled nervously.

"This is Ginny" Brad said. "We found her in the lower levels"

"Ginny…" Jill spoke more to herself than to the others. Where had she heard that name before? She let out a small gasp as she recalled it. The files! The girl who Umbrella created…G1N1E…Ginny…"Leon. I need to speak to you. Outside" Before Leon could argue, she grabbed hold of him by the wrist and pulled him out into the corridor whilst Ginny introduced herself to Carlos.

"What's going on"? Leon demanded.

"Ginny. The girl. I found a file. It mentioned a girl, a test tube baby that Umbrella created for testing purposes. She was the first one"

"Shit" Leon leant against the wall and ran his hands through his sweaty hair. "Brad and Chris picked her up. I wonder if she knows"

"I wonder if she's dangerous" Jill added.

"She's just a kid Jill" Leon replied. "She's been through a lot. She had plenty of opportunities to screw us over and she didn't. In fact, she helped us. She's just another young girl caught in Umbrella's crossfire"

"Like Sherry"? Jill countered.

"Well that was certainly cheap but yes" Leon answered. "Just like Sherry. She's caught up in this whole mess and she didn't ask to be. She was trapped in the lower levels with some monster on her ass and some psychotic researcher. Like I said before, she had ample opportunity to screw us over but she didn't. She's nothing more than a scared little girl" He pushed off from the wall and stalked past Jill. "Don't you ever throw Sherry in my face" He said as calmly as he could muster before going back into the infirmary.

Ginny and Brad were sitting on the bed next to Kevin, who seemed to be looking a lot better. Carlos had taken the horrible plastic chair and Chris was sitting on the floor, his back resting against the cabinet. He gave Leon's hand a quick squeeze when the younger man sat down beside him.

"You ok"?

"Fine" Leon said with a nod as Jill slipped back into the room, giving him an apologetic nod as she sat down.

"Ginny was just about to tell us what happened here" Brad said.

"I'm not sure when it happened" Ginny started to explain. "It's hard to tell the time. An alarm used to go off in the lower levels at the start of every day and then another one when everyone was supposed to finish work. The alarm stopped working after the spill"

"A virus spill"? Jill prompted.

"I think so" Ginny nodded. "There was one when I was younger, the one that I told you about in that corridor with the freezer" She continued. "The alarm wouldn't stop going off one day. That's how you know when something's gone wrong. Everyone was running around…there were special evacuation subs on the upper levels. I think everyone got out…expect the lower level workers. They started to get sick…the ones that didn't locked the sick ones away. There were five of us left…the people who looked after me had run away so they were all I had. They were maintenance workers, they were nice guys. They'd let me watch their movies, that's how I saw Top Gun" She smiled at Brad. "They had an idea of how to get out of the facility but then…The Beast got them. That's what started the leak in the first place…that Beast used to be man. Or at least that's what I was told. They turned him into that and thought they could control him…but they couldn't. My friends all died…I managed to get away"

"You were very brave" Brad said gently, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "We're going to get you out of here"

"Well at least we know there aren't any more survivors" Carlos pointed out. He looked confused when Jill and the others frowned at him. "What"?

"Real sensitive Oliveira" Chris rolled his eyes. "The kid just told you her friends died and all you can say is 'at least we know there aren't any more survivors'? Pfft. What you gonna do next? Make fun of ol' One Eye Kev over here?"

"You just did"! Carlos spluttered. "You called him One Eye Kev"!

"Yes" Chris replied with a perfectly straight face. "That's because he has one working eye" He rolled his eyes again. "Get with the programme UCSB"

"It's UBCS" Carlos corrected. "If you're going to insult me, at least do it right"

"Whatever" Chris shrugged. "So how are we getting out of here then"? He looked expectantly at Ginny.

"Well the easiest way would be through the glass ring but Brad said that it got smashed by the sea monster" She replied. "The head of the facility had it put there to stop staff leaving…"

"Sounds about right" Carlos snorted.

"Ha"! Chris spluttered. "You'd know eh Oliveira? Mr Umbrella staff face? Mr-oh-my-god-Umbrella-you-seem-like-a-great-company-to-work-for-not-at-all-evil-so-please-give-me-a-job"!

"Ignore Chris" Jill said as Ginny giggled. "So, what happened to your parents"? Leon shot her a filthy look but she ignored it, her attentions entirely focussed on Ginny.

"They died when I was a baby" She replied simply. "One of the researchers and her husband used to look after me but they were always busy with their work so I used to hang out in the lower levels a lot"

"I see" Jill nodded. She gave Leon a significant look but he shrugged at her. She eyed the girl levelly. She had obviously never been told the truth about how she came to be. Although she appeared helpful and trustworthy, she still wasn't prepared to trust her fully.

"So Ginny, do you know another way out"? Brad asked, unaware of the slight tension between Jill and Leon.

"There's another lift shaft, one for the lower level workers. They weren't allowed to use the executive one. It bypasses most of the upper level corridors…there might be an entrance to it on this level…I can't really remember"

"If there is, where would it be"? Carlos asked hopefully. "Can you show us"?

"Well there should be one on this floor" She said after a moment's consideration. "I think they made sure the lift shaft connected to the floors with medical facilities available in case of an emergency"

"Well what the hell are we waiting for? Let's get this show on the road"! Kevin exclaimed, standing up.

"Are you sure you're alright to move"? Jill asked.

"Hey, if it means getting the crap out of here then I'm all for it"! Kevin replied. "I'm a little light headed but it reminds me of my days in college when I wasn't quite so law abiding…"

"Why my sister wanted to marry you Ryman, I'll never know" Chris said, shaking his head with disbelief.

"Why Kennedy wants to marry you, I'LL never know" Kevin shot back. Chris retaliated by pulling a gruesome face at him. Ginny giggled.

"Right" Brad stood up, rubbing his hands together proactively. "Who's up for getting out of this place"?

"Let's go"! Chris nodded in agreement. "Here's where you really shine, isn't that right Bradders? Getting away from places quickly"? He clapped Brad on the shoulder. "You're alright Bradley. A bit of a wanker but hey, nobody's perfect"! He grinned.

Leon and Chris led the way as the group left the infirmary and headed down the length of the corridor. There were a few doors but nothing really of interest. Leon noticed that Jill kept shooting Kevin worried looks and looking at Ginny suspiciously. He didn't really know the young girl but he couldn't help feeling protective of her. He knew that Jill thought that he was just using Ginny as an outlet for his unresolved issues with Sherry and maybe she had a point. He couldn't save Sherry but maybe he could save Ginny. He looked over his shoulder at the young girl who was bringing up the rear alongside Brad, holding his hand tightly. She didn't seem as bright and chipper as she had been during their time in the lower levels. Leon wondered if she was nervous about leaving the facility for the first time. He whispered his intentions to Chris, who nodded at him and called Brad forward, allowing Leon to fall back in step with Ginny.

"Hey" He greeted. "How are you doing"?

"Oh good thanks" Ginny replied, not meeting his eyes. "I'm sorry I upset Chris earlier. I've never seen two men kissing before"

"Don't worry about it" Leon said gently. "About that though…I bet you're getting a little worried about leaving this place"

"Yeah…" Ginny muttered quietly.

"Well. I'm not gonna lie to you. You'll have a lot to learn and it's going to seem really confusing for a while but I'm sure you'll love it" He smiled at her. "You're brave and you're smart and we'll be around to help you out"

"Really"? She looked at him now, hopeful.

"Of course"

"Well…there is one thing I'm scared about…where am I going to go? This is the only home I've ever known and I'm glad that I don't have to be here on my own anymore but I'm worried about where I'm going to live" She admitted.

"We'll sort something out for you" Leon replied, feeling a lump in his throat. Although he'd been expecting it, the conversation was getting a little too close to the bone for his liking. It reminded him too much of the awful nights that followed his escape from Raccoon City.

"_Raccoon City was the only home I've ever known"! Sherry was trying to be brave but Leon could see the unshed tears glistening in her eyes. This latest motel room was just as shabby and depressing as the last with its peeling wallpaper and flickering lamps but, with very little funds, it was the best he could do. "Where am I going to live now"? _

"_Hey, don't worry about it" Leon tried to sound reassuring but it was hard. He was exhausted. He hadn't really slept a hell of a lot since he'd managed to pull Sherry out of the hell hole that had been Raccoon City plus his gunshot wound was giving him trouble. He knew it needed medical attention but he didn't want to check into a hospital and risk leaving Sherry. Not only had the kid witnessed horrors no adult should ever see, she'd just lost both of her parents. Leon didn't even know where he was going to live, let alone what would become of her. He did know one thing though, he was the only thing she had and he was going to try his damnedest to provide some stability for her. "Look, you haven't touched your fries" He pushed the cardboard container over to her. _

"_I'm scared Leon…" She mumbled, pulling her knees up to her chest. He'd managed to pick up some new clothes for her, but they were slightly too big so that the jumper and jeans made her look even smaller, even more vulnerable. He dropped his own fries and moved over to the bed where she was sitting. Ignoring the crippling ache in his shoulder, he wrapped his arm around her. Immediately she leant against him, clinging on to him for support as he held her tightly. _

"_Don't be scared Sweetie" He murmured as he felt her succumb to her tears. "I'm going to make sure everything's alright. I promise"_

END OF CHAPTER EIGHT


	9. Chapter 9

"You're gonna be fine" Leon said hurriedly, giving Ginny's shoulder a quick squeeze. "We'll make sure of it, ok"? She nodded at him gratefully and rushed to the front of the group to be back with Brad. Leon ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his face hard. He wasn't so disconnected with reality that he wasn't aware that he was transferring his feelings about Sherry to Ginny. It seemed so easy. Another scared girl who needed him, needed his protection. He'd failed with Sherry but with Ginny there was still a chance. Still a chance that he could save her. He would save her.

He was so involved in his thoughts that he didn't realise the others had stopped and he almost collided with Kevin. They were at the end of the corridor now, standing in front of two sets of lift doors. Ginny pressed both of the call buttons and she and Brad shared a celebratory high five.

"So Kev, what's the first thing you're gonna do when we get out of here? Visit a monocle shop"? Chris asked, leaning against the wall. "Perhaps get fitted for an eye-patch? Maybe you should consider auditioning for the role of Cyclops? I hear horror's gonna be big this year" He added with a smirk.

"Very funny Redfield" Kevin shook his head with disdain. "Have a laugh all you want but we all know that I'm still better looking than you, even with one working eye"

There was a ding as one of the lifts arrived. This was followed only seconds later by the second lift. The left hand doors opened and the group started to pile in, Leon at the rear. He stopped in his tracks when he heard a strange noise, like raindrops pattering on a tin roof followed by a horribly familiar and unmistakable noise of dead weight hitting the floor. The right hand lift doors opened and like toppling dominoes, a horde of zombies spilled out from the lift carriage, filling the corridor with the stench of death and decay, their monotone moans ricocheting off the walls.

"Shit"! Leon heard Chris' curse. "Leon! Get the hell in here"! He yelled as the left hand lift doors started to close. He saw Chris' gloved hand reach out to him but it was too late. The horde, single minded in their actions, grabbed at Leon, tugging at his clothes, his limbs. Their combined strength pulled him back easily and all he could do was watch as the lift doors closed on Chris' horrified face.

He struggled in the grips of his attackers. He could feel the adrenaline begin to pump through his veins, that same adrenaline that helped him through Raccoon, through Brazil, through countless encounters with the monsters of Umbrella…

First things first. He needed to put some distance between him and them. There would be no helping him if the damn things cornered him. He turned around in the grip of the horde and reached out, dealing with the first zombie he got his hands on. A hand on each side of its head and one deft twist was all it needed for its neck to snap. Despite the grimness of his current situation, Leon couldn't help but smirk a little at the sound. When it was the bones of something out to get you, it was a damn satisfying one.

Years ago, or so it seemed, Krauser had complimented him on his speed. And yeah, he was pretty darn fast. And it was that speed that was going to be his best ally. The zombie that he'd disposed of dropped to the floor, taking a couple of its 'brothers' with it. This gave Leon enough room to quickly twist out of the others grips and run forward, barely pausing to stamp down hard on the two fallen zombie's heads. He felt them burst under his boots like over-ripe pumpkins.

Now with space on his side as well as speed, he could really start to make some headway. He glanced at the row of lights above the lift, Chris and the others were still travelling upwards. He could only hope that the zombies weren't on top of their lift carriage either. The horde was still pouring out of the lift as well as dropping down into the carriage, seemingly from the lift shaft. It seemed that when Spencer released the zombies on the lower levels, there'd been some on the upper levels too. Leon withdrew the Silver Ghost and fired off every single bullet in the chamber, each one hitting one of the advancing creatures directly in the middle of its pallid forehead. Knowing Umbrella, he was sure he'd need his remaining clips for something a lot bigger so he reloaded then slipped it back into its holster. His knife came out next, just as one of the creatures reeled forward to attack. With a careful, calculated movement, Leon jabbed his knife upwards, into the zombie's open mouth, through its rotting palette and into its soggy mess of a brain. As it dropped to the floor to join its buddies, Leon yanked his knife free and drove it straight into the forehead of another zombie. He turned around, snapped the neck of one of the others before turning back to retrieve his knife.

He dodged inbetween the bodies, dodging the rapidly spreading pools of blood and gore as he continued his relentless attack. The onslaught from lift seemed to have stopped leaving him with five of the creatures still standing. He could've laughed. Five? Five was nothing. It was gratifying to know that despite him being stuck behind a desk for his fledgling career with the BSAA, he still had it in him. But now wasn't the time for complacency. His heart was pounding and he was breathing hard as he moved towards his next target. Some poor soul in a torn and tattered lab coat. Abandoning his knife for now, he hit it directly on its rotting nose with a strong palm-strike. It reeled backwards from the power of his strike and Leon seized this opportunity to sweep its legs. It crashed to the floor with a piteous moan and Leon was on it immediately, crushing its head underneath his boot.

The next one was almost too easy as it slipped in a pool of its fallen brother's blood. It fell headlong towards Leon and he wrapped his arms around its soft torso, pulling it up and over his head in a graceful suplex. Which just left three. He was getting tired and the wounds from Spencer were aching. As the three stumbled towards him, clumsily sliding in the blood, he once again pulled out the Silver Ghost.

Chris kicked the side of the lift, willing the fucking thing to move faster. He'd had to wait until it had made its long journey to the top before being able to send it back down. The others had piled out of the lift and before any of them had had the chance to argue, he'd pressed the button and the lift doors had closed on their shocked faces. He vaguely heard Jill shouting after him but he hadn't taken notice of what she'd said. All that mattered was getting back to Leon. His heart was pounding a fierce tattoo in his chest and his stomach felt like it was turning itself inside out. He knew that if he thought about it logically, Leon wouldn't have any trouble bringing down a group of zombies. After all, he'd dealt with a city full of them. He was a trained killer. But Leon's greatest ally was speed and Chris didn't know if the mysterious injury his lover had sustained would affect that or not.

His hand tightened around his gun, so much so that he could feel it cutting painful grooves into his palm. After everything that happened in Africa, he'd assumed that the fight with Umbrella was finally over. He never thought he'd have to worry about this sort of thing again. He and Leon had had so many lucky chances, so many near misses, superior skills would only get them so far. As long as their fight with Umbrella continued, there would always be that possibility that their luck would run out.

He took a deep breath and swallowed hard when the lift made its ping noise and the doors slid open. He'd expected to see Leon fighting his way through the horde, taking them down in that skilled, methodical way of his. What he found inside was his lover, his beautiful, amazing lover, sitting on the bloodstained floor, his back rested against the wall, breathing heavily with at least a dozen dead bodies around him. When he heard the lift doors he turned his head and smiled as soon as he caught sight of Chris, his face covered in blood and gore.

"Hey" He greeted as if they'd just met up in a restaurant. He carefully got to his feet, smearing blood down the front of his scrub pants as he wiped his hands on his thighs. Even covered in the mess of a dozen dead zombies, he still looked hot. "I ran into some old friends" He surveyed the mess around him. "Looks like I've still got it". He smeared some blood across his cheek as he wiped it. "But then, you knew that"

"Never doubted you for a second" Chris replied as Leon picked his way through the blood and gore, taking great care not to slip. "The others are waiting for us in the maintainence reception. How does getting the fuck out of here and blowing it sky high sound"?

"Add a shower, a steak and some hot sex to that deal and I'm sold" Leon answered, flicking his blood streaked hair out of his eyes as they headed for the lift. "Oh and, before you suggest it. We are NOT having sex in the lift"!

The maintainence reception was a tiny room between the lift and the outside of the rig that had once, according to Ginny, been where newly arrived staff signed in and given their security tags. It was a simple room, designed to ensure lower level staff knew their place. It was carpeted with ugly grey cord carpet and its wall were a horrible sickly cream colour. The Umbrella symbol was painted above the chipped oak reception desk next to two signs, one reading 'All Personal Possessions Must Be Declared' and 'Contraband Will Be Confiscated And Rule-breaks Will Be Punished'.

"I can imagine the sort of punishments these guys would cook up" Kevin snorted as he read the signs.

"Just ask Oliveira, I'm sure he can tell you all about it" Chris said, pulling a hideous face at Carlos who responded with a vulgar hand gesture. "Come team! Time's a wasting! I've got some hot sex promised to me and I wanna cash in"! He winked sleazily at Leon.

"Subtle Chris" Leon muttered when Ginny blinked in surprise and went bright red. He shook his head at Chris and put his hand on her shoulder. "You ready Sweetheart"?

"You'll stay with me right"? Ginny asked. "You too Maverick"? She added, reaching out for Brad's hand.

"Everyone will be with everyone" Chris waved his hand impatiently. "Now let's go"! He announced, pushing open the door that lead to the outside of the rig. The first thing that hit him was a blast of cold air. It seemed that the weather had taken a turn for the worse since they'd last been outside. Rain was coming down in buckets and a whistling wind was blowing it across the floor of the rig in sheets. The sky above was grey and cloudy and could best be described as looking ominous. Chris braced himself against the wind and stepped out. The force of the wind nearly made the door slam shut behind him. Leon came out next, followed by Brad and the others. Chris screwed his face up against the biting wind and scanned the rig. He could see the BSAA helicopter across the other side of the rig's expansive surface. Never before had the BSAA helicopter looked so welcoming.

Fifteen minutes later, they were up in the air. Ginny was sitting with her face pressed up against the glass, marvelling at the sights below. She was sitting next to Leon who had flopped exhaustedly against Chris. Jill and Kevin were sitting opposite, Kevin slumped against the window, his hand clamped over his injured eye. Jill was watching him worriedly, playing with a loose thread on her combat trousers. Brad and Carlos were sitting in the cockpit, Brad piloting and Carlos filling Barry in on everything that had happened over the helicopter's radio.

"They're blasting the facility within the next hour" He called to the others.

Leon gently squeezed Ginny's slim shoulder. She turned to face him, the wonderment from the flight seemed to have vanished and had been replaced by sorrow. He knew it must be hard for her, leaving the only home she'd ever known.

"What's going to happen to me"? She whispered. She reached for his hand, barely flinching at the dried blood that stained his skin all the way up to his elbow. Leon felt his heart constrict. He looked around and it seemed that nobody else had heard Ginny's question or if they had, they were pretending they hadn't.

"Hey Ginny" Chris leant over and offered her a smile. "Why don't you go and check out the cockpit? I'm sure Goose will show you what very little he knows"

"It's Maverick silly"! She shook her head with a smile but didn't argue. Leon helped her stand and she slowly moved towards the cockpit. Chris turned his attentions to Leon, his face serious.

"I know what you're gonna say and no, we can't" He said flatly.

"We could" Leon replied quietly. He glanced over at Kevin and Jill. Luckily, Jill seemed to be too involved in checking Kevin's wound to notice what they were talking about. "We could get a bigger place, home school her until she's ready to maybe go to college…"

"Leon, baby, she's not Sherry" Chris said gently. Leon instantly felt his face grow hot. How much longer were the people he loved going to throw Sherry in his face? He stiffened in Chris' hold, trying to shrug the older man's arm from around his shoulders but, Chris being Chris, remained steadfast. "You're still not recovered. Hell, I'm still not. We've never had the chance to just be us without fucking Umbrella getting in the way. It wouldn't be fair to her"

"And what? Dumping her in the foster care system would be"? Leon snarled. "She's seventeen Chris. She'll get one year as a ward of the court and then they'll expect her to fend for herself. And as far as they're concerned we have nothing to do with her so they won't let us see her…"

"Look" Chris held on to his struggling partner tightly. "Now's not the time. We'll talk about it when we've had the chance to rest ok? But before you say anything I promise that I'll help find a solution that both of you are happy with. You have my word" He continued, forcing Leon to look at him. "Anyway. The problem we need to sort out is how we're gonna get her into the country. She doesn't have a passport"

"That's not a problem" Leon replied with a hint of a smile. He didn't want to drop the issue of who was going to look after Ginny but he trusted Chris and knew that the older man would help him find an answer. He'd already thought of how to get her into the country. Chris looked at him, confused, until Leon reached into his gun belt and pulled out a small leather case that held his old Secret Service ID card. "She's with me, on important business" He said by way of explanation as he flashed his ID at Chris.

"Weren't you supposed to hand that in when you left"? Chris asked, one eyebrow raised. The corners of his lips quirked in a proud smile. Leon slid the ID back into his gun belt and offered his boyfriend a smug, satisfied smirk.

"What ID"? He said nonchalantly as he leaned back into Chris' hold.

It was the middle of the night by the time the group arrived back at Barry's cabin. After checking out of the hotel in Scotland and grabbing a change of clothes, Barry had arranged for a private jet to bring them back to America. There'd been a hairy moment at the airport when questions had arisen over Ginny's passport but, as predicted, Leon's Secret Service ID had silenced them all.

As soon as they stumbled through the heavy wooden door, filthy and exhausted, Claire bore down on them, hugging Chris as hard as she could before turning her attentions to Kevin who seemed far more concerned with her and the baby than his injury. Despite his fierce protestations, Claire bundled Kevin into their car and took him straight to the hospital.

The others settled on the squashy sofas, barely speaking as they each took their own time to come back to earth. Barry seemed to realise this and dispensed drinks and food without prompting anyone to talk. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, Jill and Carlos excused themselves to one of the bedrooms saying they had a lot to talk about. Brad managed to settle a nervous Ginny in one of the other bedrooms before joining the others back on the sofa.

"Poor girl" He said exhaustedly as he helped himself to another drink of juice. Chris and Leon were sitting on the sofa opposite, Leon idly tracing light circles on Chris' thigh. He'd taken a quick shower at the hotel and changed into some fresh clothes.

"We'll make sure she's taken care of" Barry said adamantly. He was sitting in his favourite armchair with a grave expression on his face. Chris recognised that look. Years of working with Barry Burton had acclimatised him to the older man's looks and he knew that that look meant Barry was hiding something, something important. He seemed to be radiating an aura of tension, an exhaustion different to theirs, not of someone who'd been fighting for their life but of someone who carried a heavy weight on their shoulders. Chris imagined that it was a similar look to the one Barry had had back in the mansion when he'd been forced to hide his brief alliance with Wesker.

Before Chris could question his old friend's mood, Barry stood up and clapped his hands together.

"Well, I think it would be best if everyone tried to get some sleep" He said firmly. "We can discuss your findings in the morning. Brad, I'm afraid you'll have to sleep on the sofa but there's plenty of pillows and blankets. Chris and Leon, you're in the attic"

Leon nodded thankfully and stood up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Chris followed suit, the graze on his back suddenly throbbing and his muscles aching. After bidding Brad and Barry goodnight, they climbed the stairs.

Barry's attic room looked as comfortable as the rest of the cabin. The wooden floor and walls were left bare aside from a few family photos and an old, thick maroon rug. The double bed was large and inviting with fresh red bedding. Two small wooden tables stood at either side, one holding a silver lamp with red lampshade and another holding a small, old fashioned tin alarm clock. Chris looked at the thick, plump pillows and suddenly longed to sink into them. Before he did so however, there was something he needed to check out first.

"Right" He said, folding his arms across his broad chest and glaring at Leon in what he hoped was a firm way. "Let's see your leg"

"Not now Chris" Leon replied, pulling back the bed sheets and fiddling with his pillow. He'd already taken his t-shirt off to reveal the cuts along his side which Chris was certainly not happy with.

"Why? Gonna sleep in your jeans"? Chris shot back. "Cos if you're not, I'm gonna see it anyway" He added with a shrug. "So you might as well get it over with"

Leon sighed heavily, knowing full well that Chris had him there. He had no intentions to sleep in his jeans. He'd hoped that he could read a book or something and wait for Chris to go to sleep before he could undress and slip under the covers. By the look on Chris' face and his general demeanour, it didn't look like the older man was intending to go to sleep any time soon. Sighing heavily, because he knew what was coming, Leon slowly unbuckled his belt and slid down his jeans, revealing the injury to Chris.

Chris sucked in his breath. He'd hoped that Leon had simply fallen or badly bruised his leg. What was revealed to him instead was something that had obviously been a gun-shot wound that had been partially and ham-fistedly cauterised. The whole area was red raw and swollen. He picked up his jacket from where he'd slung it over the end of the bed.

"Where are you going"? Leon asked, pulling his jeans back up quickly and re-doing his belt.

"Hospital" Chris replied stiffly. "I'm taking you. Get your shirt back on"

"Chris…" Leon started to protest.

"Get your fucking shirt on" Chris cut him off. Leon grabbed his t-shirt from the bed and yanked it over his head. The last place he wanted to go right now was the hospital but he knew that when Chris was like this, there was no arguing with him. It reminded Leon of their time in Africa when he'd been entirely focused on finding Jill. He had that same look of grim determination. It also reminded him of when he'd been wounded by the creature in the Spanish facility and Chris had tended to it. Leon remembered how much of an ass he'd been to the older man when all Chris had wanted to do was help. He hadn't realised back then that Chris was doing it because he cared. He certainly realised now. Which was why, when Chris held out his arm to help him back down the stairs, Leon didn't argue.

Brad wasn't sure what it was that woke him up but he knew that he was freezing cold. Luckily for him, Barry's sofa was nice and comfortable and with the extra pillows and blankets he'd been kindly provided with, he'd managed to settle down and go to sleep. Now though, he was totally awake. He grabbed his phone and checked the time, groaning a little when he saw that it was only four am. He rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. There was a cold draft coming from somewhere.

Throwing off his blanket, Brad decided to find the source of the draft. Dressed only in his t-shirt and boxers, Brad crossed the lounge area and saw that the front door was open a crank, letting in all the cold air from outside. As he moved towards the door, he could hear voices, muffled at first then clearer the closer he got.

"Didn't know you still smoked" He heard Barry say. It sounded like Barry and someone else were standing on the porch. Brad crept closer to the door, not wanting to disturb them.

"Only when I'm stressed" came Chris' tired reply. "They kept us hanging around for ages at the hospital" He grumbled.

"How's he doing"?

"Well as I thought, that wound on his leg's infected. They're gonna keep him in for a couple of days to clear it up so it looks like I'll be sticking around here for a few days. Leon's pissed at being kept in but he'll get over it"

Brad was at the door now. He knew he should really close it and let Barry and Chris have some privacy but something, his nosiness he supposed, made him stay.

"You're welcome to stay Chris. You know you are. I'll take you back to the hospital in the morning so you can take Leon some things. I've got a spare pair of pyjamas he can have. Got to be better than what they'll give him at the hospital"

"Thanks Barry. So, what's up with you anyway? Don't try and fob me off. I've known you long enough to know when you're hiding something"

Brad was shivering from the cold now but judging by what Chris had just said, things were about to get interesting. He wished he'd brought his blanket over though.

"I really don't want to do this now Chris. You've just got back and Leon's in hospital. You don't need it"

"Neither do you"

"You know, sometimes I think I'm getting too old for this" There was a rustling that sounded like Barry was stealing one of Chris' cigarettes. "Kathy thinks I am. She thinks I'm on a fishing trip. She'd kill me if she knew the truth" He paused, presumably to take a drag from the cigarette. "It's not that easy to give up though is it? It's the sort of thing you want to see through to the end. Umbrella changed all of our lives. That's not something you can just forget"

"There's a point to this isn't there"? Chris replied grimly.

"While you were exploring the facility, your sister and I tried to do as much fact finding as we could. She used her contacts in Terrasave and I was in contact with a friend of Leon's"

"Dennis"? Chris offered.

"That's the guy. Apparently, the Secret Service were aware of the facility's existence and were in the process of launching an investigation. Dennis was kind enough to share some of their intel and it made for interesting reading"

Brad's teeth were practically chattering now but there was no way he was going back to bed. The conversation had taken too far an interesting turn.

"I know you Chris and I know that what I'm about to tell you isn't going to be something you'll want to hear. So before I tell you, you need to give me your word that you won't over-react and that you'll give me a chance to work out how we're going to act on this"

"You have my word" Chris said quickly. "What's going on"?

"There were some files that insinuated that Wesker is still alive. Research notes, memos and lab reports all signed with his name and all dated after Antarctica. This has all been uncovered recently within the last couple of weeks. The Secret Service were due to send a team to the underwater facility to try and find him but they hit a snag"

"Which is"? Chris sounded perfectly calm but Brad knew that this was probably just a front.

"There's nothing in any of the intel to suggest that Wesker had anything to do with that place. It seems like it was a pet project of Spencer and his son, something Wesker knew nothing about. They've been trying to track him and yesterday morning they got a break through. A group of local witnesses spotted a man matching his description heading into the woods near the Arklay Mountains…"

"Arklay"? Chris sounded taken aback. "But that's near…"

"I know. The remains of Raccoon City were built on a few years ago and the city is now known as New Arklay. The remains of the Spencer Mansion still stand and the woods and surrounding area are completely out of bounds for civilians. I don't exactly know how they enforce that but if Wesker can just stroll in there, it's obviously not very effectively. The witnesses reported it to the local police so when the Secret Service did a search of police reports, it came up"

"That's just like him" Chris snarled. "Wanting to go back to where it all started. This is all one big game to him"

"We don't know that it's him Chris" Barry's tone was one of warning. "Judging from the way you and Leon dealt with him, I'm guessing that it isn't him at all. Just another one of Umbrella's staff who've idolised him to the point that they've taken on his identity"

"Either way it needs investigating" Chris pointed out. "I can be ready to leave in ten minutes"

"Chris. What did I just tell you? You need to give me a chance to work out how we're going to deal with this. I asked you not to over-react"

"Who's over-reacting"? Chris asked irritably. "You wanted this ending so I'm offering to end it. You don't need to work out how to deal with it cos I'm gonna deal with it for you"

Brad jumped backwards as Chris pushed on the door. He bolted for the sofa and pretended to be asleep as Chris and Barry came back into the cabin.

"And I suppose I'll have to be the one who tells Leon and Claire where you've gone"? Barry whispered harshly. "You need to promise me that you'll stay calm and let me work something out" Brad opened his eyes a crack to see Barry grab hold of Chris' arm. "Do you promise"?

"Barry…"

"Do. You. Promise" Barry said quietly, gripping Chris' arm. Chris glared at the older man for a second before shrugging helplessly.

"Fine" Chris muttered. Brad watched him turn on his heel and stalk up the stairs. He heard Barry sigh heavily and mutter something before heading up the stairs himself. Brad thumped his pillow and turned over on the sofa, trying to make sense of what he'd just overheard.


	10. Chapter 10

The Facility Endgame 

Chapter Ten

Leon adjusted the pillow and attempted to get into a more comfortable position. After what seemed like hours, the doctors and nurses had finally left him alone, advising him to get some rest. They'd dressed the wounds along his side and his leg and were currently pumping a strong antibiotic into him to combat the infection. He was sore, he was aching and he was tired but for some reason, he just couldn't settle down to sleep. He let out an aggravated sigh as he heard the door to his room swing open.

"There's no need to creep" He snapped into the darkness. "I'm still awake"

"Good cos I need your help" Brad's familiar voice replied. Leon reached up and flicked on the light above his bed. A small pool of light appeared around his bed and he could just about make out Brad in the shadows. When the BSAA agent stepped into the light, Leon could see how frantic he looked.

"What's going on"? Leon instantly sat up.

"It's Chris" Brad said, looking grave. "I need you to come with me"

"I'm going nowhere until you tell me what the hell is going on" Leon answered. "Get to the point and quickly"

"I heard Barry and Chris talking and Barry said something about a sighting of Wesker…" Brad started to explain. "Well, it's probably not Wesker…just some weirdo who has become him…"

"I said get to the point" Leon interrupted. "What part of that did you not understand"? He said acidly.

"Chris has gone after him" Brad continued, ignoring Leon's harsh tones. "Barry told him not to but I heard him sneak out. I was gonna go after him but then I figured I'd need back up and that you'd want to come…" Brad swallowed hard. "Oh man, Chris is gonna kill me"

"I'll kill you if you don't get a move on" Leon threw the thin hospital blankets aside. "Did you bring me some clothes"?

"Oh, yeah, here" Brad held up a carrier bag. Leon snatched it from him and, not giving a damn about modesty, removed his hospital gown and changed into the khaki combats that Brad had provided. He tried to pull on the black t-shirt but stopped when he realised he still had the antibiotic drip in his arm. Brad winced. "Don't rip it out"!

"Do I look that stupid"? Leon said snippily as he compressed the vein with his forefinger and used his thumb and index finger to slowly draw the needle out of his arm before letting it drop carelessly to the floor. As he pulled on his t-shirt, a small trickle of blood started to run down his arm. Brad winced again. It looked horribly stark against his pale skin. "Where are the weapons"? He asked in a low voice.

"In the trunk of my-"

Leon swept past Brad and through the door. He stalked along the corridor as Brad followed close behind.

Brad had parked Barry's battered old pick-up truck at the hospital's entrance. A parking attendant was standing by the vehicle looking irritated. He opened his mouth as Leon stalked up to the driver's side door.

"Agent Kennedy. Secret Service" Leon snapped as he opened the driver's door. Luckily, when they'd driven back to Barry's cabin from the airport, Leon had stowed his old ID badge in the passenger compartment. He reached over, grabbed the ID and shoved it in the attendant's face. As the attendant spluttered nervously, Leon climbed into the car and started it up as Brad got into the passenger seat.

"I was thinking maybe I should drive" Brad suggested tentatively as Leon pulled out of the hospital's car park.

"No" Leon replied simply. "So, fill me in. Where's he heading"?

"Have you heard of New Arklay"? Brad asked, keeping a nervous eye on the speedometer. Although they were going fast, it seemed that Leon was a careful driver. When Leon didn't reply to his question, he continued. "They've built on the remains of Raccoon City, your friend from the Secret Service said that Wesker had been spotted going into the nearby forest"

"And Chris has just gone charging after him"? Leon pounded the steering wheel. "For fuck's sake Brad! Did it not occur to you to stop him"? He sighed heavily. "Rac-New Arklay is miles away! How long has he been gone"?

"About an hour" Brad replied. "I got a few supplies together and came right out. It's not easy to sneak through a hospital in the middle of the night"! He added, sounding a little wounded.

"It's easy enough if you're competent" Leon muttered.

"You know Leon…you're kind of a jerk" Brad said as Leon took a corner a little too sharply for his liking.

"It's been said before" Leon answered shortly. "Personally I can't see it"

"So is this road trip going to be silent and awkward or are we going to make an attempt to get along"? Brad asked. "I know we don't really know each other but it doesn't have to be awkward. You could be, I don't know, civil at least"?

"Sorry" Leon said quietly after a few more awkward moments of silence. "I'm still getting used to this working as a team thing" He explained. "I'm worried about Chris. I know what he's like when he thinks Wesker is around" He raised his hands in the air disbelievingly and slammed them back down on the steering wheel. "What the hell am I saying? Wesker's dead. He's dead. We killed him"

"Barry thinks that it might be some Umbrella psycho trying to copy him" Brad replied. He wondered if Leon could sense just how nervous he was feeling. The idea of going back to where it all began was terrifying. He felt like he had lost everything there. His job, his home and more importantly his family. After his cowardly actions, he'd run away to England and fought to get his life back into some sort of order. It had taken him years and although he would never forget his beautiful family, he felt like he'd been able to move on.

He needed to see it as a chance. An opportunity to go back and make things right. He couldn't run away this time. He had to face whatever was waiting for them and make peace with the mistakes he'd made.

"We'll find him Leon" He said, trying to sound reassuring and confident. "Chris is going to be alright"

"He better be" Leon kept one hand on the wheel as he fumbled around in the passenger compartment. "I want the pleasure of killing him myself" He pulled out his phone, which he'd stashed alongside his ID and quickly pressed his speed-dial. "Dennis? Leon. I need your help. If I send you some co-ordinates can you have a helicopter sent there as soon as possible? Thanks. Yeah, the next drinks are on me" He hung up and pocketed the phone quickly. "That's our transport sorted"

"Just like that"? Brad asked, amazed. "Are we telling the others what we're doing"?

"No" Leon answered shortly. "They'll only slow us down. Kevin's injured and Jill and Carlos seem to have their own problems. Plus, someone has to stay behind and make sure that Ginny's alright" He felt a horrible clenching in his stomach when he mentioned her name.

"Well, I bought enough firepower" Brad tactfully changed the subject. He wasn't really sure what was going on with Leon and Ginny but he certainly knew a sensitive subject when he saw one. Leon nodded, concentrating on the road ahead. Brad fiddled with his seatbelt. He was never good with people he didn't really know. "So, um, yeah…how come you were such a jerk to me earlier"? He mentally cursed as soon as the words were out of his mouth. It wasn't exactly the grounds for a civil conversation.

"Defence mechanism I guess" Leon answered, not taking his eyes off the road. "We've all got 'em. That's why Chris is running off into a fight. He'd rather do that than think. If he can fight he doesn't have to think"

"How did you meet him"? Brad asked, wanting to steer the conversation into more cheerful waters.

"In Spain. He was sent to help the Secret Service with a job. I hated him at first but then…I don't know, there's just something about him that I couldn't help but love even though I tried god damn hard not to" He flashed a brief smile. "So how about you? Got anyone in tow"?

"I did have" Brad replied, feeling that all too familiar sickness stir in the pit of his stomach. It happened every time he though or talked about his family. "The died in Raccoon City and I've not really been all that interested since. I've had a few dates and whatnot" He shrugged, hoping to come across as casual. "No-one's really measured up I suppose"

"Wow…I'm sorry"

"That's why I have to do this" Brad continued. "I ran away last time, left my team behind. I need to prove to myself and everyone else that I can do this"

"Well" Leon said simply. "Let's do it"

Half an hour later, Leon pulled into a desert field surrounded by a half rotten, rickety wooden fence. In the darkness, Brad could make out the shape of a helicopter in the middle of the grass.

"Grab the weapons, I'll get it started up" Leon said as he got out of the car and slammed the door. Brad nodded and followed. He opened the trunk and hauled out an old canvas holdall which contained the weapons and supplies he'd hastily grabbed back at the cabin.

He trotted across the pot-hole riddled field and reached the helicopter just in time to see Leon hand the truck keys to a stranger dressed in navy combats and a black flight jacket.

"Just take it to the nearest motel" Leon was saying. "It's good to see you again Dawson" He added, giving the man a friendly clap on the back.

"You too Kennedy. Take it easy with her ok? I've just given the old girl a full service" Dawson replied, tossing a thumb in the direction of the helicopter. "No repeats of France alright"?

"Wouldn't dream of it" Leon smirked. "Although I don't think I need to remind you that France was entirely Dennis' fault. Thanks for the help by the way. Drinks on me"?

"Hell yeah! Dennis already told me" Dawson offered Leon a salute. "I have no fucking clue what you're about to do Kennedy, but good luck"! He gave Leon's hand a quick shake before disappearing into the darkness.

"Are you up for piloting"? Leon asked, turning to Brad.

"Sure" Brad answered, taking the proffered keys.

Brad and Leon were about five minutes away from the Arklay Mountains when the sun started to rise. The expansive city below them looked odd in the half-light. Although neither of them said it out loud, they both tried hard to ignore it. It was probably completely different from the Raccoon City they'd known but looking at it would bring back too many painful memories, pick at too many raw wounds and open up too many feelings that they'd bought fought hard to bury.

"Leon"? It was Brad who broke the solemn silence. "I'm getting a lot of interference with the equipment"

"What sort"? Leon asked, leaning over and looking at the screens.

"Not sure" Brad replied. "But I think we should land. Whatever it is, it isn't good and if we're not careful we could end up crashing"

Leon nodded and Brad brought the helicopter down in a small patch of grass just on the outskirts of the forest.

"I think someone was trying to make us crash" Brad said as soon as the noise of the helicopter had died down.

"Sounds about right" Leon grabbed his gun belt from the holdall and strapped it around his waist. As well as handguns and ammo, Brad had packed a magnum each which was obviously the firepower he'd referred to earlier.

"There's supposed to be someone watching these woods" Brad said as he prepared his own weapons. "Ours wasn't exactly a subtle arrival"

"Don't worry about it" Leon replied. "I've still got my ID. Should shut any questions up"

"Must've been cool to be in the Secret Service" Brad mused.

"That's one word for it" Leon slammed the cockpit door. "There doesn't seem to be any other vehicles around. Do you know how Chris got here"?

"He took Kevin's jeep but he could've gone to a BSAA outpost and got a copter. There's one near enough to Barry's for him to drive to. They wouldn't ask him any questions if he wanted to take one of the copters"

Leon nodded and tried to slow down the relentless march of scenarios in his head. He had to keep reminding himself that Chris was highly trained and that whoever he was chasing couldn't be Wesker because Albert Wesker was dead.

The forest up ahead looked dark and monstrous. Gnarled old tress twisting and hunching, stopped like the un-dead, their thick masses of leaves blocking dawn's grey fingers, which were slowly beginning to infiltrate the night. Shapes seemed to dance and cavort within the nest of trees, passing in and out so quickly it could've just been a mere trick of the eye. The bushes and plant life on the forest floor looked stiff and dry, like bodies preserved in a museum, so far away from the living that it was hard to believe they'd ever been alive.

Brad's fingers twitched above his handgun. Only, it wasn't 1998 anymore and a pack of crazed mutant dogs weren't snapping at their heels. He was sure that to anyone else, Arklay Forest looked just like any other forest, but for him it was tainted forever. It was a place of twisted and unimaginable horror, like Wonderland in negative. And he'd just fallen back down the rabbit hole.

"Dammit Chris, where are you"? He heard Leon mutter as they slowly inched their way towards the forest.

Brad felt as though he was on high alert as they entered, twigs and leaves snapping and crunching underfoot. Entering the forest was like entering another world, silent and eerie, devoid of life and nature, where not even wild animals dare tread.

"Can you remember where the Spencer Mansion was"? Leon asked, making Brad jump in the midst of the silence.

"Yeah" He replied, swallowing hard. "Why? Do you think Chris might've gone there"?

"Makes sense" Leon shrugged. "That's where he'd think to go"

"Ok…um…this way…" Brad pointed. He was beginning to lose his nerve, he could feel the old familiar panic rising, his instincts telling him to run while he still could. Only he couldn't. He couldn't do that to Chris again. He needed to show that he was part of the team and that this time, he wasn't going to run away from his responsibilities. He mentally shook himself and tried to focus on the task at hand not the forest's grisly past.

"Chris isn't going to find much if he has gone there" Brad spoke again, hoping that his nervousness wasn't coming across in his tone. "They blew the mansion up"

"This is some sort of trap" Leon said darkly. "Some Umbrella psycho is waiting for us to walk into it and that's exactly what we're doing" He sighed heavily. "Damn it Chris"! He cursed.

"He'll be ok" Brad tried his best to sound reassuring. He gasped as he nearly stumbled over a jutting rock. "I never thought I'd be back here again…"

"Tell me about it" Leon replied. "Just seeing the city was hard enough even though it's not even the same city anymore"

"I remember the city…" Brad muttered. He looked shocked as if he hadn't meant to say it out loud.

"You stayed"? Leon expertly dodged around the same rock. Brad noticed that he was walking a little awkwardly and knew that it probably had something to do with the injury to his leg but he knew better than to push it.

"Yeah. After the S.T.A.R.S got suspended I did a few odd jobs. Mainly cash in hand stuff but it brought in the money. My daughter had just started school and my wife didn't want to uproot her"

"You've got a child"? Leon sounded surprised.

"I had a child" Brad said quietly. As much as he thought he'd moved on, the sharp pain always returned when thinking of his daughter. "She died with my wife" He took a deep breath. "When things in the city started to go bad and we realised that we needed to get out. There were looters everywhere, smashing up the streets…people were going crazy and what was left of the RPD were stretched so thin they couldn't keep track of what was going on…it was like the city had gone mad. I've never seen anything like it…" He took another deep breath and swallowed hard. "I needed to go pick up the Jeep. I'd parked it around the corner" He let out a strange, strangled, humourless laugh. "Never any parking near our building. My wife wanted to come with me but I told her…that it wasn't safe, that she needed to stay in the apartment. We'd packed up a few things…Jenny, my daughter, she thought it was all an adventure. She loved Disney. We were going to listen to her Disney songs in the car so she wouldn't be afraid…anyway. Yeah. I went to go get the Jeep. It wasn't easy, there were people everywhere, pushing and shoving, beating each other in the streets. I had to throw a few punches myself just to get to my damn car. I pulled the Jeep around to the building and went up the stairs. I must've been away longer than I thought…it was hard to get through the crowds…they'd got into my apartment. Anna had done her best to protect Jenny but they were like animals…they'd been and gone in the time I'd been out…taken all the money we had in the apartment. Jesus, it was hardly anything. A hundred bucks maybe? And they'd beaten my wife and child to death…they were in the bedroom, I found them in the wardrobe…"

"Brad…"

"So that was it" Brad continued. "Nothing left for me in Raccoon anymore. Nothing really left for me anywhere. But don't tell me you're sorry or that you understand because you really can't" He added, sounding uncharacteristically aggressive.

"I can" Leon said quietly. Brad looked up at him, momentarily startled. He didn't know a lot about Leon but he didn't think he'd ever been married or had a child. "I found a young girl the night I came to Raccoon. Sherry. Her parents, well, they weren't in the picture. I took her in and she became like a daughter to me. I took care of her and she was taken away from me with no warning. They didn't let me see her and it killed me. I found her again in a facility in Antarctica. I had to watch her die brutally at the hands of Wesker"

"And people walk on egg shells around you don't they"? Brad offered.

"And act like you're fragile" Leon added. They glanced at each other and smiled. Not a smile of joy but one that simply said they understood each other and the magnitude of their losses. Brad felt a little easier around Leon now like the brief sharing of their grief had brought them closer together.

"You didn't do anything wrong by running away" Leon said as they moved towards what looked like a large clearing. "I would've done the same thing given the chance. And if anyone tries to tell you that you're not brave or courageous then they're wrong. You lost your family and you're still fighting. If that's not brave then hell, I don't know what is" He pushed a low hanging branch aside.

They moved into the clearing, sweeping the area with their guns. Brad let out a strangled gasp as he spotted the body of a man laid face down by some bushes to their left. Leon spotted it too and raced forwards.

"Chris"!

Brad followed closely behind as Leon crouched down by the body of his lover. He hovered nervously whilst Leon checked the older man for signs of life.

"Is he…"? Brad asked, his mouth suddenly dry.

"He's breathing" Leon replied calmly. "Help me roll him over"

Brad nodded and helped Leon roll Chris onto his back. There was an ugly bruise just above Chris' left eye but apart from that, he appeared to have no other injuries. Leon was gently shaking him, trying his best to rouse him.

"Bugger off Claire…I'm tired…" Chris groaned as his eyelids began to flutter open. Brad sat back on his heels, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Wake up you stupid oaf"! Leon exclaimed, continuing to shake his partner, albeit a little more roughly than before. Chris' eyes shot open and he looked up at Leon, confused.

"Leon"? He groaned as he tried to sit up. "What the hell are you doing here"?

"I could ask you the same question you fucking idiot"! Leon shot back, helping Chris into a sitting position so that his back was resting against the thick trunk of a tree. "What happened to you"?

"Something went wrong with my copter's controls…and it came down just outside the forest" Chris rubbed his forehead then hissed in pain when he came in contact with the bruise. "It may have been a less than satisfactory landing…but I figured I'd walk it off"

"Less than satisfactory"? Leon spluttered. "Less than satisfactory! You're lucky you're not dead"! He grabbed the front of Chris' t-shirt. "What the hell are you playing at? You go running off on some damn fool crusade because someone matching a dead man's description is running around"?

"Well…you're supposed to be in the hospital"! Chris replied, somewhat pathetically. It was then that he noticed Brad, who'd been doing his best to stay out of the argument. "And what did you bring him along for? I bet you fifty dollars he'll run away the first chance he gets"!

"We're leaving" Leon said with a tone of finality as he stood up. "We're going to go back to Barry's and we're going to sit down and discuss what's going on here like rational adults. We can come up with some sort of plan and work out our next move. And if anyone needs a hospital right now it's you" He motioned to the bruise. "You could have concussion"

"Wait a sec…" Chris got to his feet with a little difficulty. He dusted off his clothes. "We can't just leave. We need to find Wesker"!

"It's not Wesker"! Leon shouted, surprising both Chris and Brad. "We killed Wesker remember? It'll be some crazy ex-Umbrella payroll member who's taken his love for his idol a bit too far. That's if what the witness saw was even right"

"Ok. So say it isn't Wesker. Say it is some Umbrella whack-job. Surely they need putting out of their misery before they can put other people's lives in danger" Chris argued. "You know where we are right? The remains of the Spencer Mansion are less than half a mile away. My bet is that this guy went there. I say we go there and take care of things before we have another Wesker on our hands"

"Why are you pushing this so much"? Leon asked suspiciously. He eyed Chris carefully who was staring back at him defiantly. A wave of realisation washed over him. "You think it's Wesker don't you? You think he's still alive"

Chris continued to stare at Leon for a few seconds before sighing heavily. He crossed his arms across his chest and nodded.

"Yeah. Ok. I think it's him" Leon opened his mouth to argue but Chris continued regardless. "He's come back from the dead before Leon. I don't see why this is any different"

"We mutilated his body. We levelled the whole damn facility. There's no way he was ever gonna come back from that" Leon replied, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Look. No offence to you Leon but you have no idea what this is. You don't know what this thing between me and Wesker is. You can't begin to understand…"

"Fuck you" Leon said calmly. Brad blinked in surprise. "I don't know what it's like? He killed Sherry! He killed someone who was as good as my daughter! And you! Look what he's done to you! You've spent years and years chasing him and he's fucked you up! I was there remember? When we first got together? The nightmares you had? Your drinking"? He threw his arms up into the air in disgust. "Yeah! I've no god damn idea what it's like"!

"Well then" Chris approached Leon, placing a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "You've got just as much reason as me to fight"

Leon sighed heavily.

"I guess I can't argue with that" He muttered.

"Guys…" Brad spoke up. "I hate to interrupt but why don't we just go and check out the mansion? If we don't find anything then we can always come back later with reinforcements and if we do find this guy…well, I'm sure we can handle him"

"Well…I really hate to say this but you might actually be right Bradley" Chris announced, giving Brad his usual hard clap on the back. "Well done" He added in his most condescending tone. He turned back to Leon. "And as soon as this is over, you're going straight back to the hospital"

"Yeah and you'll be coming with me" Leon snapped, nodding at the bruise. "Just do me a favour and don't run off again alright"? He sighed deeply and offered Chris the smallest of smiles. "Ever since I met you I don't think my nerves have been the same"

"That's the wonder of me" Chris replied, giving him a cheesy grin in return. It dropped almost instantly and his mouth set into a grim line of determination. "We're gonna finish this tonight. One way or another, it's gonna end" He looked into the darkened depths of the forest in front of them. "It has to" he added quietly.

"Holy shit…" Brad's eyes widened as he took in the crumbling ruins of what had once been the elegant Spencer Mansion. The whole time that Alpha team had been lost within its labyrinthine corridors, he'd been circling above in the helicopter, frantically trying to get into contact with them. He remembered looking down at the mansion and thinking that how, even from the air, it looked huge. He knew that if he'd have been down there, battling through the rooms and hallways, he'd have probably gotten lost.

Now the Spencer Mansion was barely a shadow of its former self. What had once been the crowning glory of Raccoon City had been reduced to a pile of rubble. If you looked closely, you might've seen a fragment of a marble pillar or splinters from a heavy oak door, but it was otherwise indistinguishable as a mansion.

Chris surveyed the wreck, his arms clamped tightly across his chest. Whether he was angry, upset or didn't give a shit, it was impossible to tell. His face gave nothing away. As soon as they'd ascertained that nobody was going to attack them, he'd put his gun away and stopped dead, simply staring at the rubble. Brad watched as Leon moved closer to his partner, his gloved hand reaching forwards to touch the older man's bicep. Chris didn't flinch or acknowledge the touch, seemingly lost to his strange and sudden funk.

Brad bit the bottom of his lip, unsure of what to do or say. He felt oddly unwelcome, like an intruder on someone else's grief, someone else's grave. Which, he supposed, it was. The pile of stone in front of them was effectively the gravesite of his former colleagues who'd bravely laid down their lives in the line of duty.

"It's different" Chris suddenly spoke, startling Brad from his thoughts. Brad turned to look at his fellow former S.T.A.R.S colleague who had finally reacted to Leon's touch. He'd moved the younger man's hand from his arm and was holding it tightly, looking down at it as if it were the only thing anchoring him to reality. "Back in Antarctica when he'd recreated this place, it was different…I knew it was just a fake" He kept his eyes on Leon's hand. "But here…well…it's here"

"This isn't a good idea" Leon reiterated. Chris shook his head and released his hand, seemingly pulling himself together as he did so.

"No. We have to finish this" He replied firmly.

Leon looked over at Brad who shrugged helplessly. Brad knew that there was nothing he could do or say to change Chris' mind. He wasn't entirely sure that he actually wanted to. Chris had a good point. Perhaps it was the time to finally lay to rest everything that had happened since that fateful night when their whole lives had been turned upside down. He wondered briefly if Anna, his beautiful, proud Anna, was looking down on him and willing him onwards. The thought of her rooting for him, pouring all her love into him, gave him the strength to carry on, to want to see it through.

"Chris is right"

"Not you too…" Leon groaned. "Look, we're here. And we're alone. There's nobody here! Whatever that witness said was probably just bullshit to get some attention"

"Do you really think that Dennis would waste his time with bullshit"? Chris asked, one eyebrow raised.

"You got this information from Dennis"? Leon asked, taken aback.

"Barry did" Chris confirmed. "They were in contact with each other while we were exploring the underwater facility. The Secret Service were in the process of launching an investigation into what's going on around here" He explained.

"Well that's all the more reason to turn back!" Leon said adamantly.

"I think we're ok considering we've got one of their former top agents on our side" Chris argued, nodding at his partner.

"A former agent with PTSD" Leon replied bitterly. He inwardly cursed as soon as he'd said it. It was something that had been troubling him for a while now. People like Barry and Dennis were too eager to tell him that he needed to take a back seat, to slow down and get some therapy. It left him feeling weak and damaged, like he was a shadow of his former self. He hadn't bothered to tell anyone, thinking that it would only make things worse and give them even more license to treat him like he was fragile.

"Leon, you can still totally kick ass" Chris said. "I think you proved that when you handled those zombies back in the facility. You're not as weak as what you think you are. Hell, you're not weak at all"

"He's right" Brad chipped in, nodding emphatically. "I didn't know you had anything wrong with you" He added, somewhat clumsily.

"Shut up Bradley" Chris replied good-naturedly. "No-one asked for your chicken opinion" He snorted. "Goose"

"How about I make you a deal"? Leon asked, feeling a little better by the rallying words from Chris and Brad. He needed to break the tension somehow. "I do this for you, even though I think it's a shit idea, and you wear shoes at our wedding" Chris opened his mouth but Leon cut him off. "And you don't hide your trainers underneath the pews" He held his hand out expectantly.

"Fine" Chris grumbled, shaking Leon's hand.

"Great"! Brad grinned, grateful at the light-hearted turn in the conversation. "Now that we've got that sorted, where are headed next"?

"Bradley" Chris sighed. "Let the adults talk" He was smiling but Leon could see the grim determination in his eyes. He was looking at the rubble, his eyes scanning the mess as if he was trying to work out which direction they should head in. "We can go round this side" He said after a few moments of careful consideration. "If we cut through the trees we should eventually end up in a courtyard" He explained.

Chris barely waited for a response before he was off, striding towards the trees, his gun clenched in his hand, ready to fire if needed. Leon followed him, with Brad bringing up the rear. The tension that Leon had successfully broken only moments ago, seemed to have returned. Most of it seemed to radiate from Chris. He dodged around trees and through the bushes expertly, barely making a sound as he moved.

The maze of trees seemed to end suddenly at a small marble wall that was barely at knee height. Leon figured that this must be the wall around the courtyard that Chris mentioned. He watched Chris step over it carefully and followed him, suddenly hyper sensitive to any noise or movement around them. Brad was still bringing up the rear, walking backwards as he swept the forest floor and surrounded trees with his gun. Leon tried to call out a warning but it was too late. Brad came into contact with the wall, stumbling backwards as he tried to regain his balance. He failed spectacularly and crashed to the floor, landing heavily on his rear. He sat up, blinking, before looking expectantly at Chris, obviously waiting for him to make some snide remark about how unco-ordinated he was and how that somehow related to him running away during the mansion incident. Chris however, didn't appear to have noticed. Leon held out his hand and helped Brad back to his feet.

"This way" Chris said, nodding to their right. Leon glanced to their left and saw a pair of bronze gates, twisted and warped from the original explosion. They were mainly rusted now and hanging off their hinges.

Leon followed Chris into a large courtyard, most of which was taken up by a large pool of water, that looked drained, set deep into the ground. The water level had obviously been much higher at one point because the concrete walls of the pool were glistening with oily moss.

"Still drained huh"? Chris muttered darkly. He snorted and shrugged before continuing onwards, striding over to the pool purposefully. He looked down into its depths and saw the two rusted ladders, one at either side, and the short concrete path between them that led from one side of the pool to the other. The path's greyish-blue flagstones shone with moisture and Leon could see that the path would usually be concealed beneath the water. It gave him a horrible sense of foreboding, something he hadn't really felt as intensely since he'd wandered around the seemingly endless labs underneath the city. It was the idea that aspects of the building were hidden, meant only for the eyes of those who knew about it. It gave him the feeling that anything could be around the next corner and that there was a bigger and darker secret that he wasn't privy to.

They climbed down the ladder, one after the other, and ran the short length of the path, boots pounding on the wet stone. Chris set the pace, hauling himself up the opposite ladder and running along the path that wound around the side of the pool. Any sense of humour or lighthearted-ness that Leon had tried to inject into his lover had disappeared and the older man's face was set into a grim, determined mask.

Eventually, they reached an old service lift, rusted with age and wear. Chris seemed to know where he was going as he stepped onto the lift without any sort of hesitation. Leon, trusting his partner implicitly, stepped on. Brad hung back, gnawing at his bottom lip nervously.

"If you're gonna back out Bradley, you best do it now" Chris said. There was no hint of his usual teasing tone. "We're going down to the labs and there's no way out"

"I'm coming" Brad replied with as much conviction as he could muster. Keeping Anna's smiling face firmly in his mind's eye, he stepped onto the lift as Chris pulled the lever.

The lift descended slowly down a darkened tunnel. The gears and motors screeched and squeaked, giving the alarming notion that the lift might suddenly break and they'd be trapped, or else it would crash to the bottom of the tunnel. Luckily, the old mechanics held out and the lift arrived at the bottom of the tunnel safely. As soon as it stopped, Chris stepped off and into the courtyard. Leon moved to follow but felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and Brad whispered in a conspiratorial manner.

"I'm worried about Chris" He said. "I've never seen him like this before" He nodded at Chris, who was currently sweeping the courtyard with his gun.

"He's being professional is all" Leon replied.

"How did Wesker die"? Brad asked delicately. "Barry told me that I shouldn't ask you guys but…well…I want to know" He was speaking as quietly as he could over the noise of the waterfall that dominated the courtyard, partly so that Chris couldn't hear him and fly off the handle and partly so that Leon could choose to ignore him if he wanted to.

"I chopped his body to pieces with an axe wrestled from a fire cabinet" Leon spoke plainly. "That's why I know he's dead" He added acidly.

"You understand why he's doing this though"? Brad said, nodding at Chris who was currently skirting round the two tiny pools of water that were at either side of the waterfall.

"Look Brad" Leon wheeled around so that he was facing Brad. "You're a great guy and all and I'm glad you came along with me but stop acting like you know Chris better than I do. Yes, I understand why he's doing what he's doing but that doesn't mean I agree with it"

"Get a move on"! Chris shouted over the gush of the waterfall. "Through here"! He added as he disappeared through the waterfall without giving them a chance to catch up.

"Idiot's gonna get himself killed" Leon muttered as stepped around the skeleton of what looked like a large dog.

He and Brad ran through the waterfall, getting briefly drenched as they did so. There was a rusty ladder at their feet which seemed to lead downwards into a darkened tunnel. There was no sign of Chris.

"Think he's gone down there"? Brad asked, slipping on the wet stone. All around them, droplets of water dripped onto the stone beneath their feet creating a symphony of noise. It made it hard to concentrate. There didn't seem to be any other way to go other than down.

"Go first. I'll cover you" Leon said, nodding down the hole.

"Careful when you start on the ladder" Brad said as he started to climb down the ladder slowly. "It's really slippery"

"You don't say" Leon muttered as he stared down the ladder himself. The rungs were very slippery from the wet conditions and he could feel flecks of rust coming off onto his fingertips as his hands gripped the sides. He cursed with every single rung. First at Chris for running off and then at himself for going along with what was bound to be a really stupid idea.

"So when you were in the city…" Brad started to ask.

"Are you trying to piss me off"? He interrupted snippily. First it was the question about Wesker, now it was going to be questions about his night in Raccoon City? He briefly wondered whether Brad specialised in being annoying or whether he was just clueless as to what was appropriate to talk about when stumbling into an enemy's blatant trap.

"I just want to get to know you is all" Brad explained when they reached the bottom of the ladder. "I've been thinking a lot since I came along to help you guys back at the other facility and I've really enjoyed working with everyone so I think I'm gonna stay in America"

"Oh" Leon felt wrong footed. "Well, that's good"

"I don't think I'll have trouble convincing the North American BSAA to hire me" Brad continued. "Oh and this whole jerk thing you're doing to me? Trying to keep me at arm's length? I can totally see through it"

Leon muttered in a non-commital way, slightly peeved that Brad had seen through him so easily. The only other people who'd managed it were Dennis and Chris. As much as he instinctively wanted to push Brad away, he was starting to like the guy. He could easily see the two of them becoming good friends if they continued to work together.

From somewhere in front of them came a sudden noise, like someone landing heavily onto a hard surface. Blinking at each other in shock, they snapped into action. They'd climbed down to a long, claustrophobic tunnel that had been carved through the rocks. It had a low ceiling and a low light that came from a string of bare bulbs travelling the length of the wall. The walls themselves glistened with moisture and a damp, dirty smell tugged at their noses, like someone was rubbing their faces with an old, wet flannel. The sound of the waterfall above them could still be heard, but quieter now, all the more ominous, almost as if masses of water could suddenly thunder through the tunnel, flooding it completely. There was a rusty iron door directly to their right but, being that the noise came from ahead, Leon decided it was best to let it alone.

Wanting to get to the bottom of the noise and find Chris, Leon and Brad raced down the tunnel as quickly as they were able, given the slippery conditions. The tunnel turned sharply to the left and them again once more, as if it were a giant 'U' shape. At the end of this 'U' shape was where they found Chris, struggling with another rusty iron door.

"Well don't just stand there" Chris berated. "Get over here and give me a hand"!

Between where they were standing and the door where Chris was, was a gap in the floor. Brad dared to lean over and have a look. It was pitch black and looked as if it could go downwards for miles. He shuddered to think why Umbrella would feel the need to have such a gap like that in one of their constructions.

Leon chose to jump the gap first. It was quiet wide and would need a slight run-up to clear it. It was Chris jumping over this gap, Leon realised, that probably caused the noise they'd heard. He jogged backwards a bit and took a few seconds to judge his distance before running and then leaping, clearing the gap easily and landing lightly on both feet. He let out a small groan of pain as he did so, feeling hot needles flare up his injured leg.

"You need to stop running off" He spat in Chris' ear as Brad started his own run-up.

"Then you two need to hurry up" Chris shot back. "We don't have time to waste"

"Yeah and carelessness costs lives" Leon countered as Brad leapt over the gap, landing somewhat heavily, briefly reminding Leon of the time Chris had leapt over the gate in Africa and hurt himself.

"Are you gonna help me get this door open or not"? Chris asked, ignoring Leon's previous comment. Presumably, Leon thought, because he had a point and Chris didn't want to admit it.

"Of course I will" Leon replied, wrapping his hands around the thick iron handle of the rusted door. Chris put his hands over Leon's and, despite the situation, Leon felt a small flicker of arousal before they started to pull as hard as they could.

With a lot of effort and an ear-splitting screeching sound, the door swung open to reveal another tunnel, almost identical to the one they were currently in. Chris stepped forward and but Leon grabbed him by the shoulder and hauled him back.

"How about I go first" He said firmly. "We're a team right? Not the Chris Redfield show"

"You don't know where you're going" Chris pointed out, trying to push past Leon who was blocking the doorway. Leon moved quickly, grabbing Chris by the front of his t-shirt and slamming him up against the tunnel wall.

"Then tell me" Leon replied, his fists tightening in the material of Chris' t-shirt. "You can't keep running forwards. If there is something out there you're gonna get yourself killed. I know you wanna get this finished but we can't just run into things headfirst" Chris opened his mouth. "And don't tell me I don't understand again. I know how much you want this whole part of your life to be over and it will be, I promise. Just don't go getting yourself killed ending it" He sighed and released his lover who stared at him in shock. "Let's do this together. You, Brad and me ok? We're a team"

"Go team"! Brad announced, punching the air in triumph. Both Leon and Chris turned to look at him. "Or…not"

"You're a fucking nerd Bradley" Chris said, shaking his head. He nodded towards the next tunnel. "Let's get a move on. The sooner we get this sorted, the sooner we can stop talking to Goose over here"

"Hey, I might be joining the North American BSAA…" Brad replied as they moved forward into the next tunnel.

"Oh god…" Chris clapped a hand to his forehead and rolled his eyes dramatically. "I think it might be time for me to retire…"

As they entered the tunnel, Chris immediately turned to the left where there was a large hole in the tunnel wall. It looked as if something had smashed through it. Judging by the chunks of rock at their feet, the thing that had smashed through the wall had been a boulder. Leon shuddered as he stepped over the detritus, knowing that the rolling boulder was probably intended to crush whoever was trying to gain access to the double doors that were beyond the wall.

"Guns ready" Chris commanded as he placed a hand on the double doors.

"Always a promising phrase" Leon muttered sarcastically. "Good old Umbrella"

With a swift kick from Chris, the double doors flew open and the three of them marched into the room, guns drawn.

"Oh god…" Brad murmured, feeling all the bile from his stomach hurtle towards his mouth. He swallowed sickly and lowered his gun. The room they'd entered was small and square and had, at some point, obviously been home to spiders. The walls, ceiling and even the floor were covered in thick webs. Dusty tendrils hung down from the ceiling, brushing Chris' shoulders as he strode through the room, seemingly unfazed. "I hate spiders…"

"Not spiders Bradley. Spider! A giant, huge, hairy spider in fact" Chris explained with a grin as Brad turned pale. "I was kind of hoping it would still be alive" He cracked his fingers. "I was in the mood for tangling with a giant spider. Was kind of hoping they'd replaced it"

Leon watched as Chris strode around the room, examining the webs that were dangling, staring in revulsion at the emaciated skeletons that were trapped in the corners of the room, buried under strings and strings of thick, sticky webbing. At a guess, they were probably lab workers or general Umbrella dogsbodies who'd been unfortunate enough to get captured by the giant spider that Chris had been talking about. Leon shuddered involuntarily. Although Brad seemed to have trouble imagining giant spiders, Leon remembered them all too well from the sewers. He sighed heavily as Chris tossed a web tendril at Brad who shrieked with fear before cursing the older man. Chris was now the polar opposite of the mean, moody, focused solider he'd been only moments ago. Now he was laughing, joking, insulting Brad and although he wasn't running ahead all the time, it was still annoying Leon. He knew Chris well enough to know that his sudden turn around in mood wasn't genuine. He'd done exactly the same thing back in Africa when they were looking for Jill. Chris liked to think that he was indestructible but it was far from the truth. Still, if he had to take some kind of front, Leon would definitely take the laughing joker. At least that way there was less chance of him being so damn headstrong that he would run off and get himself killed.

"God damn and blast it"! Barry cursed as he tossed the phone across the huge oak desk in his office. The small room on the second floor of his cabin had been decked out as a small base of operations for the BSAA. Equipped with a couple of phone lines, a computer, a short wave radio and comfy seating, it was a perfect place to monitor and provide guidance for BSAA missions. He'd long since stopped going on missions and instead made sure he was always the first point of contact for any advice and guidance the others might need. At this present moment in time however, he was finding having to sit back and wait a very frustrating experience indeed.

"Still no luck"? A voice snapped him out of his brief fit of rage. He looked up and saw Claire standing in the doorway, wrapped up in a large towelling dressing gown and thick flannel pyjama pants.

"You should be getting some rest" Barry said gruffly. It had been less than an hour or so since Claire had returned from the hospital and informed everyone that Kevin was being kept in for emergency surgery on his eye. While Claire had fought to stay with her husband, he'd insisted that she head back to the cabin and get some sleep.

"I can't sleep" She replied, taking a seat on the small squashy grey sofa beside a filing cabinet. "I can't stop worrying about Kevin, even though I know he's in the best place possible and Junior in here has decided now would be a good time to start practising the can-can" She added, stroking her huge domed stomach. "That and call it woman's intuition but I know something's going on that you're not telling me" She raised an eyebrow questioningly and Barry inwardly cursed. Claire was too damn smart by half. He supposed that that was one of the qualities that had secured her a top place in Terrasave. "And from the way you're acting, I'd have to guess it's got something to do with my brother"

"It's not something you need to be worrying about in your condition" Barry replied gently. It hadn't taken him long to figure out what had happened when he'd discovered both Chris and Brad had disappeared during the night. He could've kicked himself for opening up to Chris about the New Arklay stuff.

"That's getting old" Claire said as she helped herself to a glass of water from a jug Barry had put on a nearby table. "So what's Chris done now"?

"I'd like to tell you Claire, I really would, but I don't think my conscience will allow it" Barry explained. "Just try and get some rest ok? I owe it to Chris and Kevin to make sure you're taking care of yourself and the little one"

"Ok, Ok, I'll try" Claire groaned as she hauled herself off the sofa. "But if I wake up and you're still in here, we're sitting down and you're telling me what's going on. Deal"?

"Deal" Barry answered wearily. Claire offered him a supportive smile before shuffling out of the office and closing the door behind her. Barry sank back into his chair, rubbing his temples. He'd been trying to contact both Chris and Brad and had so far received nothing. He'd hoped that they were at the hospital visiting Leon but a quick phone call to the local hospital had put an end to that particular hope. He leant back in his chair and wondered what the hell he was going to do next.

END OF CHAPTER TEN


	11. Chapter 11

Notes:- So since this was such a short chapter before, I decided to remove the original and update it with some extra stuff! Enjoy!

The Facility Endgame

Chapter Eleven

Jill sat on the cabin's back stoop, looking at the sprawling forest in front of her. The early morning air felt calming and refreshing and with every deep breath she took, she felt her whole body relax. She'd woken feeling well rested, the events of the facility a million miles away. She'd crept down the stairs and helped herself to a glass of juice before deciding to sit outside and make the most of the beautiful morning weather. It hadn't surprised her that she'd been the only one who was awake. Carlos was still deep asleep when she'd left his side and the others were probably still tucked up in their beds. She'd been hoping to come across Chris or Claire so she could ask about Leon and Kevin. Both men had seemed in a bad way when they'd been taken to hospital.

She took a sip from her glass and leant back against the wooden beam of the stoop. She hadn't actually been asleep that long herself. Carlos had insisted they hammer out everything to do with the pregnancy and her evasiveness and it had been a long discussion. While he'd been understanding about her fears, he'd seen it as an insult that she didn't feel like she could talk to him about them. They'd talked at length and she'd apologised and finally the talk had come round to how they were going to deal with the baby.

Not being the most maternal and paternal of couples, they'd both considered whether or not they'd be able to raise a child. They'd discussed the pros and cons and finally, in the early hours of the morning, they'd decided that yes, they were going to keep the baby. Carlos had promised to be supportive and she'd promised to be one hundred percent honest with him from now on. She ran her hand across her stomach as she remembered how loving he'd been, how they held each other close and they'd made their promises and how stupid she'd felt for ever doubting him in the first place.

"Oh"! A voice from behind startled her out of her thoughts. "I'm sorry" Ginny apologised as she gently closed the back door. "I didn't think anyone would be awake…"

"It's fine" Jill replied with a smile. Ginny was dressed in one of Barry's huge t-shirts which she'd put on over her underwear to sleep in. "Have a seat" She added, nodding to the space beside her.

"Thanks" Ginny said as she sat down. She pulled her knees to her chest and tented the t-shirt over them which gave her the appearance of a small child. Jill knew that despite how welcoming everyone had been, she still felt lost in this strange new world.

"So what got you up so early"?

"I couldn't sleep in a strange bed" Ginny answered, keeping her eyes on the forest ahead of them. "Everything's strange to me now" She admitted. "I was going to try and find Maverick or Leon but I thought they might be asleep. I can't help worrying about what's going to happen to me"

"Ginny…"

"I know I don't have a family" Ginny's words were so sudden, so unexpected that Jill had to replay them in her head, just to check that she'd heard correctly. "I don't know if you found that out while you were back at the facility…"

Jill nodded mutely.

"They lied to me" Ginny explained. "They told me that my parents were very dedicated to the cause of Umbrella. I was told that they died in a freak lab accident and that I should be proud of them but they weren't real. Not in that way. They were just two staff members who were dedicated enough to donate their DNA so that I could be made. I don't think they ever wanted me to find out but I did. Nobody really watched over me so I learnt how to get in to most of the rooms I shouldn't have"

"And you found the file"?

"All of them" Ginny confirmed. She sighed and picked at the hem of the t-shirt. "I'm glad you all brought me here because I've always wanted to see what life was like on the surface but everything is so new and scary. I wish Maverick was awake…"

"You like Brad huh"? Jill said, her voice gently teasing. She looked at Ginny with a raised eyebrow. Ginny went bright red and smiled shyly before nodding. "Well I don't blame you" Jill added. "It wasn't so long ago that I liked him myself"

"Really"? Ginny look surprised.

"Yep" Jill nodded. "We used to work together and for a while I had the biggest crush on him"

"Leon's really nice too" Ginny continued. Jill's revelation about her old crush on Brad seemed to have opened the teen up a little. Her body seemed to have visibly relaxed and she had a big smile on her face. "It would be so cool if he could look after me"! She said excitedly.

"That would be cool" Jill replied quietly. She turned away from Ginny and looked back at the trees so that the teen wouldn't see the doubtful look that had crossed her features. She didn't want to say anything that might upset Ginny, but it was highly unlikely that Leon would be taking care of her. Jill was astute enough to know that Leon and Chris weren't ready for such a responsibility. It was less than a month ago that she'd gone out for dinner with Chris and, in a rare show of honesty and vulnerability, he'd opened up to her about the last few years and how hard it had been on himself and Leon. He hadn't felt like they'd been able to just relax and be a normal couple. He'd admitted to struggling with his drinking and horrendous nightmares and how Leon was struggling with his PTSD. He'd spoken emphatically about how he was beginning to feel like things were starting to turn around and they were able to start enjoying each other's company without the threat of Umbrella hanging over their heads. She'd jokingly asked him if they'd considered having children and he'd brushed it off immediately, firmly stating that while he saw children in his future, he wanted a good couple of years being free of any serious responsibility so that he and Leon could maybe travel and just enjoy each other.

Maybe things would be different now they'd met Ginny but somehow, Jill couldn't see Chris changing his mind. It was obvious that he wanted to do what was best for himself and Leon and while that may be something others would consider selfish, Jill firmly believed that they were well within their rights to be a little selfish considering everything they'd been through in such a short amount of time.

She didn't say a word to Ginny. She felt mean at letting her continue to hope for something that wasn't going to happen but she would've struggled to be that brutally honest with someone she knew well and who trusted her, let alone someone who was pretty much a stranger. Ginny had enough to cope with without having that dream dashed. Jill watched the young girl carefully as she stared at the beautiful scenery that lay in front of them. She didn't envy the uncertainty Ginny was feeling. After all, Jill was no stranger to uncertainty herself. Ever since her father was arrested and incarcerated, her life had been one long run of uncertainty. Yet another thing she had Umbrella to thank for.

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The room that had once housed the giant spiders contained nothing of interest or use, so at Brad's fervent insistence, they pressed on.

"Why the hell would Umbrella ever need giant spiders"? Brad asked, shuddering as Leon slammed the heavy double doors shut.

"I think with Umbrella it's a case of why not"? Leon replied. "If there's something around to experiment on then hell, you might as well" He added mirthlessly as they approached another corridor. This one was as generic and samey as the others but with a door at each end of it. Without even needing to think about it, Chris immediately steered them right and through a small iron door.

"It's amazing that you can still remember which way to go after all this time" Brad remarked as Chris marched onwards, this time down a tunnel with two off shoots, one to the left and one to the right. He turned left and they came to a service lift that was almost identical to the one back in the courtyard.

"It's not really something you can forget easily" Chris replied, pressing the controls for the lift. Brad nodded and visibly flinched, obviously waiting for some barb about how he wouldn't know because he ran away. To his amazement however, it never came. Chris' expression had turned grave. "We're almost at the labs" He said by way of explanation.

"And that's where you think we'll find him"? Leon asked. He seemed to have accepted that the unplanned, spur of the moment mission was going ahead and that nothing he could say or do would change Chris' mind and make him turn back.

"I guarantee it" Chris said as the lift began to move upwards.

The further up the lift moved, the more fresh air seemed to drift down the completely open shaft. Brad looked upwards and breathed in deeply, grateful to escape the damp fug of the tunnels. The only immediate worry was that the lift itself was making horrible high-pitched squeaking noises, making it sound as if it was on its last legs and that at any moment it could break and send them plummeting back into the dark depths below them. He glanced at Leon and Chris who didn't appear to notice the concerning noises. They seemed to be focussing entirely on each other. They were turned towards each other and Chris' already filthy hand was on Leon's hip. They were muttering in low voices, so low that even in the confined space of the lift cage, he couldn't hear them. Leon seemed to be doing most of the talking. His hand was on Chris' cheek, his thumb rubbing the older man's jaw line in what looked like a reassuring manner. It made Brad feel instantly uncomfortable, as if he was an intruder on an intimate and private moment between the couple.

It was a painful reminder of his own relationship with Anna. He fondly remembered each and every intimate moment they'd ever shared, from the moment they'd met in the years before they'd moved to Raccoon. They'd been the original college sweethearts although their first meeting had been far from romantic. He'd been playing Frisbee on the lawn with a couple of his course buddies and she'd been walking down the gravel path with her friends. He remembered every single detail about the way she'd looked that afternoon. He remembered her simple black jeans, her low cut green tank top and her soft black hair, falling in gentle curls about her face. She'd had two books tucked under her arm, one of them had been a Shakespeare text, the other had been one of her school books, a heavy tome on criminal law. He'd been so entranced by the vision of beauty before him, he'd caught the Frisbee and mindlessly thrown it and it had unfortunately hit her directly in the face. She hadn't been angry or even upset but he'd apologised profusely and offered to accompany her to the student clinic. She'd thanked him and he'd walked her there, all the while offering her crumpled tissues to help stem the flow of blood coming from her nose. He'd been mortified beyond belief but she'd been incredibly kind about it all and by the time they'd waited for the doctor and he'd walked her back to her dorm, they'd gotten to know each other and she'd said yes when he'd asked her if she wanted to go see a movie with him sometime.

Brad let out a long, probably audible sigh. He was pleased that he remembered so much about the love of his life but it seemed that every memory, no matter how happy and joyful, still caused him pain.

"Yo Bradley! You listening"? Chris' voice, so loud and brash within his memories, tore him from his reverie. He looked around and saw that the lift had come to a stop and that they'd arrived at another courtyard.

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Upon hearing the noises coming from the upstairs bedrooms, Barry had set about making breakfast for everyone. At least it provided an adequate distraction from the worry of Chris and Brad. By the time the others had come downstairs, the large wooden table was laid out with everything they could ever want to eat, eggs, bacon, waffles, pancakes and various boxes of cereal.

"Wow"! Claire exclaimed as she sat down with some difficulty. "I didn't know you were into cooking Barry"

"Oh um, well, you're my guests" Barry replied as he took a seat at the head of table and started to pass around a jug of orange juice. One look from the young woman told him that she wasn't buying it for a second but mercifully she didn't press him. Jill and Carlos didn't seem to be aware there was anything wrong but seemed to be much happier, grinning as Jill loaded Carlos' plate with bacon and eggs. Ginny was sitting next to Claire and helping herself to a waffle. She looked a lot more relaxed as she politely thanked Jill for filling her glass.

"Hey, where's Chris? I figured I'd be slapping his hand away from the bacon plate by now" Jill said as she poured herself some cereal. "And Brad. I thought he slept down here last night"

"Oh, I think he took Chris to go and visit Leon" Barry replied in his best flippant tone.

"They could've waited" Claire said, sounding grumpy. "I wanted to get back to Kevin this morning"

"I'll take you" Jill replied.

Barry suddenly felt blind panic course through his veins. If Claire and Jill went to the hospital, they'd no doubt drop in on Leon and he'd tell them Chris and Brad hadn't been there. Claire was already suspicious and he was sure it wouldn't take her long to work out what was going on.

"You should be resting Claire" He said as firmly as he could muster. "I'm sure its what Kevin wants"

"He's got a point" Carlos thankfully agreed, nodding significantly at Jill who blushed and looked away quickly.

"You could always call the hospital to see how he's doing" Barry added. He didn't like the way Claire was looking at him, levelly, with one eyebrow raised like she just knew something was going on. Barry sighed inwardly, with her shrewdness, she'd make an excellent BSAA agent.

"I'd like to go see Leon" Ginny piped up, draining her glass.

"Well then it's settled" Claire said adamantly. "We'll go to the hospital" She turned to look at Barry. "Unless you have any further objections"? She added. "Oh shit…" Her face suddenly screwed up as she hunched over the table, her hand across her stomach.

"Are you ok"? Jill asked as Claire stayed hunched over, breathing heavily.

"Yeah…yeah" She replied through obviously clenched teeth. "Junior here just likes to get a bit violent sometimes…Jesus"! She exclaimed again.

"Ok, now we're definitely going to the hospital" Jill said, standing up. "Carlos, you bring the car round to the front door. Ginny, you go get Claire's coat, it's hanging up in the porch. Barry, go get her overnight bag just in case"

"It's fine" Claire replied, trying her best to sound reassuring. "It's probably nothing. I've read the books, it'll just be Braxton Hicks contractions. It's too early to be the real thing" She finally sat back up, her face flushed. "I'll do as Barry suggested and get some rest" She looked around the room, Barry was half in and half out of his chair, Carlos was in mid-reach for the car keys and Ginny was in the process of getting her coat. Jill was standing beside her, her expression an odd mixture of calm and worry. She would've laughed if it wasn't for the alarming wetness that she suddenly felt between her legs. "Oh crap. I think my waters just broke"!

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Chris tried to tell himself that he felt a lot calmer after Leon's persuasive 'talk' but in reality, he wasn't. The mere thought that he could see Wesker again incensed him to the point that he wasn't sure of how he might react. The rational part of his brain itched to listen to Leon and tell him that of course there was no way that Wesker could be alive after how they'd taken him out but the part of his brain that still struggled to deal with the Mansion Incident and everything afterwards believed that with Albert Wesker, anything could be possible. The rational part simply couldn't fathom a logical reason as to how he would've survived been chopped to pieces but Chris wasn't going to let that deter him from his current quest.

A tiny, very secluded part of his brain had never quite gotten to grips with the fact that it hadn't been his bare hands that had killed his former captain but Leon's. Throughout all the years of chasing the S.T.A.R.S traitor across various countries, the one thing that had kept Chris sane was the knowledge that some day, he would be the one who would finally put an end to it and kill the bastard. Maybe that was why he desperately wanted the sighting to be true, maybe he wanted that chance again, the chance for him to end things as he always should've done.

Of course, he'd never said anything to Leon. The younger man had had his own reasons for wanting Wesker to die by his hands and Chris didn't blame him in the slightest. As he lead the way through the courtyard and down yet another lift towards the labs, he wondered if either of them would ever fully heal from the scars that Wesker had inflicted. It pained him to think that the bastard would have such a lasting effect on them. More than anything in the world, he wanted to break free from his past and be who he wanted to be, not who he felt he had to be. Chris Redfield, saviour of the world and destroyer of Umbrella's messy leftovers.

His stomach churned as he departed the lift and stopped in front of the main door that lead to the labs. If anyone had told him that he would standing here again then he would've asked them what they were drinking and if they'd buy him one. He felt as if he knew this place inside out and consequently, he hadn't had a chance to actually think about his surroundings as he'd lead the way. He was really here again and absolutely nothing had changed. The room was still essentially a concrete box that was totally undamaged by the blast that had rocked the mansion to its very foundations. The walls, the ceiling, even the floor was the same cold, imposing grey concrete. Gone was any of the showy pomp of the mansion. This was the part that nobody was ever supposed to see, clinical and soulless, the very manifestation of Umbrella and its staff.

"So this leads to the labs"? Brad asked. Chris nodded. He would never ever admit it, but he was glad that this time he wasn't alone. Instead of wandering through unfamiliar corridors, searching for his fellow S.T.A.R.S and wondering if they were even alive, he had the advantage of knowing exactly where he was going and he had two people by his side.

"Where next"? Leon asked. He was standing by a set of large double doors which dominated the entire back wall. There was a sign nearby that stated the door was an emergency exit only and should only be used in a '1st Class Emergency'. A border of yellow and black stripes surrounded the sign. Leon shuddered involuntarily. He knew exactly what sort of an emergency a 1st class emergency would be.

"Down there" Chris nodded towards a thick steel ladder to the left of the double doors that lead further down.

"God this place is so fucked up" Leon muttered as he strode over to the ladder. "I don't know how the hell you coped the first time"

"I didn't did I"? Chris replied. "Not really"

"None of us did" Brad said darkly. "Isn't that why we're still fighting"?

"God, just shut up Bradley" Chris rolled his eyes expressively as he disappeared down the hole. Leon shot Brad an apologetic shrug as he followed.

000000000

Barry anxiously paced across the tiled corridor of the labour ward. He wondered how the hell everything could go wrong in such a short amount of time. Only a few minutes ago, Claire had been rushed into a hospital room in the beginnings of premature labour. Jill and Ginny were in there with her now whilst Carlos had been sent to Kevin's ward to let him know what was going on. Barry had excused himself from the room, making up some nonsense about going to fetch hot drinks for everyone. It wouldn't be long before Claire would be calling for Chris and Barry still had no idea what he was going to say to her. He supposed that if he told her the truth, she couldn't exactly go charging after him but he didn't want to cause her any undue worry.

He wondered if times like this was the reason that Kathy had begged him to retire from the BSAA. In the early days, she'd been totally supportive, understanding his need to continue fighting the good fight with his colleagues. In recent years however, she'd been telling him to step down and let Chris or one of the others take over. She'd try to tempt him away from his work with promises of exciting trips and cruises but he'd always resisted and it had often led to arguments between them. She said he was getting too old to be under so much pressure and the stress wouldn't do his health any favours. As he rubbed the bridge of his nose to try and ease his pounding head, he was beginning to see her point.

"Where is she? Where is she"? Kevin exclaimed as he practically flung himself at Barry. The younger man was looking a lot better from his stay in the hospital. Jill's makeshift dressing had been replaced by a neat round eye-pad.

"She's in there" Barry replied.

"It's too early"! Kevin squawked. "Oh crap, oh crap"! He ran his hands through his hair and exhaled deeply. "Shit! Right! Calm yourself Ryman…" He muttered to himself as he pushed the door to Claire's room open.

"Hey man, you ok"? Carlos clapped Barry on the shoulder as he approached. "You look like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders"

"Fine, fine" Barry replied quickly. "I'm just worried about Claire"

"Yeah, crazy huh? I'm gonna go and find Chris. I figure he's still in Leon's room"

"No"! Barry bellowed, so suddenly that Carlos almost jumped out of his skin. "You go and be with Jill! I'll go and get Chris"

Carlos nodded, looking completely dumbfounded but luckily he didn't argue. Barry hurried off down the corridor before the younger man got a chance to question him further. If he wasn't beginning to panic before, he certainly was now. He knew he should just be honest and tell the others where Chris and Brad were but it didn't seem advisable, especially not with Claire suddenly going into labour. He figured that nobody would welcome the added stress of knowing that Chris had gone haring off on some crazy self-imposed mission, no doubt with Brad tagging along for good measure.

He knew from having a chat with Chris the previous night which ward Leon was on and he strode over there as quickly as possible. He knew it was stupid but a part of him hoped that Chris and Brad had returned and were sitting with Leon in his room. If not, Barry decided, then he would open up to Leon and let him know exactly what was going on. The younger man still had a lot of contacts outside of the BSAA and maybe he could help organise something.

A quick glance at the whiteboard hanging on the entrance of the ward told him that Leon was being nursed in a side room. Barry's hiking boots squeaked on the polished floor as he made his way to the correct room, trying his best not to draw attention to himself. He wasn't sure if it was even visiting hours. He knocked lightly on Leon's door and let himself in. He almost jumped out of his skin when he saw a nurse in the room instead of Leon. She had her back to him and was making up the empty bed with fresh sheets. At the sound of Barry entering the room, she turned around.

"Can I help you"? She asked politely as she continued to fuss with the crisp white sheets.

"I was looking for Leon Kennedy…" Barry explained.

"Aren't we all"? She replied. She plumped the flat-looking pillow and turned around to face him. "He disappeared either late last night or early this morning. I came in an hour ago to change his drip and there was no sign of him" She sighed heavily. "So if you find him, you should tell him he needs to get back here so we can continue his treatment"

"Oh…er…well, can I just collect his things"? Barry asked, rubbing the back of his neck. He cursed inwardly. Brad had obviously beaten him to punch when it came to enlisting Leon's help.

"Of course" The nurse flashed him a smile. "I'm just about done here anyway" She nodded politely and excused herself. Barry didn't want to collect Leon's things. He knew that nobody had had time to bring him any personal possessions. He sat down in the hard plastic chair that was beside the bed and leant his head against the wall. He needed time to think, time to work out what the hell he was going to tell the others when he returned to Claire's room.

"I believe you may be in need of assistance"?

Barry looked up suddenly. He knew that clipped voice from somewhere but he wasn't quite sure where. A man had appeared in the doorway. He was tall and slim and looked to be in his late forties. He had pure white hair, slicked back with gel. He was dressed casually yet stylishly, in a black turtleneck sweater and dark jeans. He smiled as he adjusted the black wire framed glasses that were sitting on the end of his nose.

"Barry Burton, good to meet you at last" The man continued in his brisk English accent. Barry must've looked as confused as he felt because the man grinned at him and shook his head. "Terribly sorry. How rude of me! It's me, Dennis. We've spoken on the phone recently regarding the events in New Arklay"?

"Dennis"! It was Barry's turn to grin now and he sat up and shook the elegant hand that Dennis proffered. "You have no idea how good it is to see you"

"Yes, I assumed my appearance would be welcome" He looked around the room. "I see you've discovered that Leon has gone against the hospital's wishes and removed himself from the premises"

"You know"? Barry replied.

"Yes. Leon phoned me shortly after he made his escape from this room" Dennis explained with a heavy sigh. "He said he was in need of some transport so I dispatched one of my agents to provide him with a helicopter. Of course, Leon being Leon, he didn't provide me with any explanation but given current circumstances I assumed he was heading for New Arklay"

"Yeah" Barry nodded. "Chris high-tailed it as soon as my back was turned. I figure Brad was the one who told Leon"

"Ah, Mr Redfield. He seems like a headstrong fellow" Dennis smiled. "Although somewhat foolhardy. I would've liked to have kept his and Leon's involvement in this to an absolute minimum but never mind, best laid plans and all that"

"I never should've told him" Barry flopped back into the chair guiltily. "I've known Chris for years and I should've known he would've gone running off…"

"Yes, Albert Wesker seems to be Mr Redfield's Achilles heel" Dennis replied. "And obviously Chris is Leon's so wherever Mr Redfield goes, so does Leon" He sighed heavily and shook his head as if he was clearing it of any negative thoughts. Barry wished that he could do the same. "There's no point driving ourselves mad with what could've been" He continued, looking pointedly at Barry. "What we need is a plan of action and, if you don't mind me taking liberties, a plan of action is something I already have"

"Well" Barry stood up. "It's plenty more than what I've got right now and I gotta say, I appreciate you coming all this way just to help us out"

"It's no trouble at all" Dennis waved his hand dismissively as he led the way out of the room. "I dare say when matters concern Leon, I'm prepared to go beyond the call of duty"

"He's talked about you a couple of times" Barry said as they walked back down the corridor and exited the ward. "He seems to have a lot of respect for you and you seem to care about him a hell of a lot"

"Yes, Leon is one of my dearest friends" Dennis replied as he continued to lead Barry down the corridors. "I've always had somewhat of a soft spot for him which has been to my detriment more than once" He smiled slightly but didn't explain. "I was pleased when he settled down and found Chris. Despite some quite obvious flaws, it's clear to see how much Chris cares for him and loves him"

"Speaking of Chris, his sister's in the labour ward" Barry nodded towards the correct corridor. "She's been asking for him"

"Ah I see. And therein lies your dilemma" Dennis nodded sagely and stopped for a moment, obviously in deep thought. "I would hasten to emphasise the importance of not telling the truth although woman in childbirth aren't as delicate a creature as most men seem to believe. When my dear wife was giving birth to our daughter she did some significant damage to my hand" He winced at the memory. "I think your best bet at this juncture is, to use a common vernacular, to fob her off"

"That was what I was thinking" Barry replied. "But Claire's a smart girl. She already knows there's something fishy going on" He regarded Dennis for a moment. He'd only spoken to the guy a few times on the phone but he was getting the distinct impression that he was somebody he could trust. He seemed to care a hell of a lot about Leon and in Barry's books, that made him ok. He did wonder however, if all English men had a preference for using such complicated sentences.

"I should tell her that Chris is resting" Dennis suggested. "Perhaps that he's asleep in Leon's room and you don't feel right disturbing him after everything he's been through"

"Sounds like a plan" Barry nodded, stroking his beard. "I'll offer to go back in a couple of hours or so and hope to hell that they've got back by then"

"Well you see, that was where my plan comes in" Dennis replied. "I was rather hoping that you'd fancy a little trip, perhaps shake off some cobwebs we may have accumulated by sitting at our desks"?

"You mean, you want us to bring them back"? Barry asked incredulously. He'd never even thought of doing something like that. He'd taken a back seat from missions for so long that he never even considered going to New Arklay himself. The more he thought about it however, the more appealing the idea seemed. What with everything that Kathy had been saying to him, he'd been conscious of the fact that he wasn't getting any younger and watching Chris and the others tear around facilities made him ache to do the same. It had been so long since he'd done the 'dirty work' of a mission that he forget about the addictive adrenaline rush and the feeling of accomplishment that came with knowing that you'd done something to rid the world of evil. Why sit around worrying about Chris and the others when he could do something proactive?

"I was rather intrigued to see if I still have it" Dennis added with a smirk. "And, as I previously stated, anything I can possibly do for Leon, I will"

"Well then" Barry grinned. "What the hell are we waiting for"?

000000000

"You fucking ass Kevin Ryman! You complete and utter fucking ass"! Claire screamed as she grabbed hold of Kevin by the collar of his t-shirt. He was standing at her side as she rode out another painful contraction. Despite everything the doctor had done to try and slow down the labour, things were progressing at a worrying rate. All they could do was give her drugs to help the baby's lungs develop before allowing her to give birth.

"Now sweetheart, don't be a cliché" Kevin replied, stroking her sweaty forehead. "You always said you wouldn't be one of those women who screams abuse at her husband"

"That was before I realised how much squeezing something the size of a watermelon out of the opening the size of a lemon would hurt"! Claire shot back. "God dammit"! She screwed her face up in pain and panted heavily. "It's too early Kevin"!

"I know Honey but you heard what the doctor said, Junior's got an excellent chance. Premature babies aren't the danger they used to be" Kevin said reassuringly.

"You fuck off you one eyed bastard"!

"Wow" Carlos looked shocked. "I never thought I'd hear Claire sound so much like her brother"! He grinned at Kevin until Jill shushed him violently. He winked at Ginny who giggled uncertainly.

"Where is that good-for- nothing oaf"? Claire demanded, seemingly ignoring Carlos' implied insult.

"Barry's gone to go and get him" Jill said, taking hold of Claire's other hand. "He'll be back soon"

"Yeah and then you can verbally abuse him" Kevin added, planting a loving kiss on Claire's forehead. "Is the contraction going away"?

"For now" Claire nodded. "He better get here soon. I don't want him to miss the birth of his nephew"!

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"Would you look at that"? Brad said as soon as he stepped off the ladder. "More grey concrete! Guess the designers ran out of imagination back at the mansion huh"? He added as he swept his eyes around the room; which was, essentially, the same as the room they had just left. Grey walls, grey ceiling and a grey floor only this time, it was lit with tube lights that were built into the walls. The lights had a sinister, sickly glow and they cast large, looming shadows in the corners of the room. It made Brad feel distinctly uneasy, almost like there was something lurking in them, ready to jump out and attack.

"Bradley, do you not remember what I just said to you regarding the whole shutting up thing"? Chris asked. "As if this isn't annoying enough! I swear, if you really do join the BSAA, I'm requesting a transfer cos I sure as hell don't want to work with you again" He snapped. He almost, not quite, but almost, regretted his own words. But there was no way he could tell Brad that he was actually pretty glad to have him on board. He figured that Brad had as much right as he did to want to be here to end things, especially after he'd told him back at the facility about his wife. But Chris had a reputation to uphold and there was no way he was going to get all smushy and sentimental with Brad Vickers. When he'd first met Brad all those years ago, he'd been young and immature and Brad had been an easy target for his childish pranks. Then everything had changed, Brad had run away and Chris and the others had been forced to grow up fast. Chris knew that there was a lot more to Brad's story than he was letting on and that if he actually gave Brad a chance, they've probably be able to develop a good bond and an even better friendship. The stress of recent years however, made it a whole lot easier to slot neatly back into the role of Brad's tormentor than his friend.

"Chris, don't be an ass" Leon said wearily. He turned his attentions to a small metal door at the end of the room with a red light above it. "We could still turn back y'know"

"Yeah but we're not going to" Chris replied firmly. "I can't believe how little this place has changed. I'd have figured the explosion would've caused some damage but it looks the same as it did back then"

"Maybe it's been rebuilt" Leon suggested. "Maybe Wesker had it rebuilt. We both know what a fan he is of blasts from the past" He added bitterly, remembering both the mansion and the Raccoon City that had been in the Antarctica facility.

"Only one way to find out" Chris said, pushing open the door and leading the way into yet another dull, grey room with a staircase to their right that led downwards. To their left was an offshoot, a small corridor with a set of double doors that could be clearly seen at the end of it.

"The visual data room" Chris said moodily.

"Sounds…" Brad started to reply but quickly realised that he actually didn't have any comment to make. "Scientific" He added quietly, flashing a cheesy grin at Leon who simply shook his head in an exasperated manner.

"That was where I first found out that our beloved Captain Wesker was working for Umbrella" Chris snarled. He could visualise the room itself perfectly, a large brown meeting table sat in the centre of it with a roll down projector screen and projector at one end. It was on that screen that he'd seen slides including one that revealing the man he thought he could trust was really a double agent. "Wouldn't surprise me if he's set up operations in there. He's a sucker for nostalgia…" He muttered, more to himself than to the others. He set off walking towards the door, carefully measured strides, preparing himself for what he knew he was going to find on the other side. His hand reached for his gun. He'd sensibly decided to take his magnum. He reached the doors and with one careful, calculated kick, they flew open and he leapt through, his gun at the ready.

The man at the end of the room didn't flinch. Gone was the large table and projector screen, replaced by an oak desk, pushed up against the wall with a grey filing cabinet next to it. To the right was a small camp bed with grubby looking sheets. To the left was a sink with a battered looking fridge next to it and a camping stove perched on top of a rickety old table. Chris barely took any of this in, instead focusing all of his attention on the man who stood with his back to him.

"Shit…" Leon cursed as he too caught sight of the man dressed all in black, his blonde hair neatly slicked back, his elegant frame showing no signs of fear from the sudden intrusion.

"Turn around" Chris commanded, pointing his magnum directly at the man's head. His heart was pounding a fierce tattoo in his chest. He didn't want to take Wesker from behind. He wanted to look into the bastard's eyes as he put a high calibre bullet through his brain. "Turn the fuck around"! He repeated.

"Is that…" Brad started to ask but Leon shushed him. Anger coursed through his veins at the thought that somehow, Wesker had survived the brutal attack he'd delivered back in Antarctica. If Chris wasn't about to shoot him in the head then he sure as hell was.

The man turned around, his dark sunglasses reflecting the dull tube lights that were fixed into the walls. Leon heard the click of Chris' magnum as he removed the safety and he was about to do the same when he realised that the man that was standing before them wasn't Albert Wesker.

"Chris wait"! He called out. "It's not him"!

"What the hell are you talking about"? Chris snarled. "Of course it's him! I'm gonna blow the bastard's brains out"

"I'm not the man you seek" The man said in a voice that was old and grizzled, totally unlike Wesker's smooth velvety sneer. Leon lowered his gun. The man's face was far too lined to be Wesker's. His eyebrow's too heavy, his jaw too square, his lips too thin. Chris however, still seemed determined to shoot.

"Who are you"? Leon relaxed slightly. The man had fooled them all. It was obviously this man who'd been spotted entering the ruined mansion's grounds. From a distance he looked a lot like Wesker and it was only when you saw his face that you realised it wasn't him.

"My name is Professor Miller"

"You're gonna have to give us a lot more than that buddy considering you've got one hell of a pissed off guy pointing a magnum at your head" Chris barked.

"You'll have to excuse me" Miller replied. "I'm blind" He explained, tapping the sunglasses.

"Why are you down here"? Brad asked. He glanced worriedly at Chris who still hadn't lowered his gun.

"I've been trying to finish the work that Albert started a couple of years ago" Miller answered. "I believe you're already aware of his plans to achieve symbiosis with our viruses"

"Our viruses" Chris scoffed. "You mean his. You're just another one of his lackeys" He spat. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now"

"I don't need to" Miller answered stiffly. "I know you won't. Albert has told me a lot about you Christopher Redfield. I'll assume that's who you are. I can't imagine many other men named Christopher who would take the time and the effort to come down here. I know you wouldn't kill an innocent man"

"But you're not innocent are you"? Chris replied. "If you're helping Umbrella you're as guilty as the rest of them"

"Then surely Sherry Birkin was just as guilty was she not"?

Without any warning, Leon launched himself at Miller, rushing him and causing him to crash to the ground. Before the older man knew what was happening, Leon landed a heavy punch to his face, shattering the sunglasses. Miller struggled against the stronger man, fumbling with the pocket of his black trousers. Chris watched in horror, aiming his gun at the struggling men but not shooting for fear of hitting Leon. Every single drop of blood within his veins turned to ice as he saw Miller take a syringe from his pocket.

From seemingly out of a nowhere, a gun shot rang out and Miller slumped to the floor, a neat bullet hole in his left temple. Chris turned to look at Brad who stared at his own smoking gun in disbelief.

"I just shot a blind guy…" He said, sounding shocked.

"Nice job" Leon said, sitting up and wiping his lip which had been split during the scuffle from one of Miller's flailing arms.

"Grown some balls eh Bradley"? Chris clapped him on the back. "I like it"

"But he was blind…" Brad was still staring at the gun in his hand. "He couldn't even dodge"

"Well to be fair Brad, people who have full eyesight can't dodge bullets so don't beat yourself up" Leon replied, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. He grabbed the syringe from Miller's clasped hand. "T Virus" He said darkly, holding it up. "You saved my life Brad, you should be proud of that"

"So…is that it"? Brad asked, holstering his gun. "Are we done here? I mean, that guy, the one I just shot, that'll have been the guy those witnesses saw right"?

"Definitely" Leon nodded. He carefully placed the syringe on Miller's desk. "We'll get in contact with Barry, arrange to have this place destroyed once and for all, especially if there's virus samples in here"

"No" Chris suddenly spoke up. "We're not done"

"What the fuck are you talking about"? Leon demanded. "Of course we're done! He was obviously the guy those witnesses thought was Wesker"! He said, nodding at Miller's dead body.

"I don't buy it" Chris shook his head, clamping his arms across his chest. "He was hiding something and we would've probably found out if Bradley hadn't have been so trigger happy"

"If Brad hadn't have been so 'trigger-happy'" Leon argued back, making air quotations with his fingers. "I've have been injected with the T virus! You're just clutching at straws because you don't want to believe that Wesker's dead! And why is that huh? What's your problem? Are you pissed off that it was me who killed him? That you didn't get there first? Is that why we're down here risking our lives"?

That was exactly the reason that Chris wanted to press on. Well, part of the reason anyway but he wasn't about to admit that. He glared at Leon who was staring at him, waiting for a response. Brad was lurking behind him, obviously uncomfortable and not sure whether he should get involved or not.

"Chris you need to let this go" Leon continued when the older man didn't reply. "Wesker's dead and you need to get over it. I know this whole Umbrella business has been a major part of your life for so long but it's over now. Please Chris, just let it go"

"How dare you"? Chris shot back, his eyes suddenly blazing. "How about you just let Sherry go huh"? At the look on Leon's face he nodded smugly. "Yeah, I thought so. Not that easy is it? You've got no right to be telling me to let things go when you're still driving yourself mad over a death that happened ages ago"!

Chris felt all the air in his lungs suddenly rush out as Leon rushed him, slamming him hard against the concrete wall. His lover's face almost looked ugly, an uncharacteristic snarl, like a gruesome slash, was pasted across his face.

"I've had it" Leon's voice was calm, yet dangerous. "Ever since she died all people have done is shoved it in my face. Out of everyone I never thought you would do it too and for what"? Leon's fist tightened in the material of Chris' t-shirt. "To prove your laboured point"? His face was barely an inch away from Chris' now. "Well fine Chris. You keep going, keep torturing yourself with the ghosts from the past but know this, I'm sure as hell not going to be waiting around by your side"

Leon released Chris completely and turned swiftly on his heel. He marched past Brad and made for the door.

"Fine Kennedy"! Chris shouted at his retreating back. "Fuck off! 'Cos that's exactly what you're good at isn't it? You fucked off to Spain when things got tough, you ran off and fucked a god-damn shit load of guys when you couldn't face up to your feelings and now you're doing exactly the same again. Well I'm doing something! I'm ending this! You're nothing but a fucking coward! And you know something? I'm glad I brought Sherry up because you need to know that by fucking off like this you're shitting all over her memory"!

"Wesker's dead you fucking asshole"! Leon yelled so loudly that it made Brad jump. "Brad, make sure this dickhead doesn't get himself killed ok? I'm going back to Barry's" He yanked open the door and prepared to leave.

"No" Brad replied. Leon slammed the door shut and turned to face him. "How about you both shut up for a second"?

"If there's anyone in this room that needs to fuck off right now Bradley, it's you"! Chris roared at him.

"Don't drag Brad into this" Leon snapped. "It's your fucking problem we're dealing with here"

"Guys. Shut the fuck up" Brad said, sounding uncharacteristically calm and in control. "Just listen to yourselves. I would've never dreamed of talking to Anna the way you guys are talking to each other. Have you forgotten that in the middle of all of this crap that you actually love each other? Chris, you did a really shitty thing bringing Sherry up like that. You don't even really have to know Leon to know how much it hurts him. And Leon, you're not blameless either. You don't know what it's like when someone you respect suddenly stabs you in the back…"

"I do actually" Leon interrupted.

"Well then you should understand what Chris is going through. Albert Wesker is a slippery snake of a man who's come back from the dead more than once, so can you really blame Chris for not believing it? Maybe that Miller guy was the person the witnesses saw, maybe he wasn't. For all we know, Wesker might be alive and hiding in this place. We're not gonna know unless we find out for sure. So how about the two of you shut your traps and we work as a team to get our answers"?

"Jesus Bradley. You really have grown a pair of balls" Chris said, sounding calmer. "A pretty big pair too" He added sounding almost, but not quite, impressed. Chris nodded at his ex-S.T.A.R.S colleague and focussed his attentions on Leon who still had his hand on the door handle although his body language was a little less certain. "I'm sorry" Chris apologised. "As much as it really pains me to say it, Bradley's right. It was shitty to mention Sherry"

"Yeah it was" Leon replied stiffly. "But I'm sorry too. I know you want your answers. I'm just tired of seeing you get hurt"

"Same here" Chris said. "That's another one of the many reasons I want to make sure he's dead. Because he hurt you" He shuddered as if he was suddenly plagued by the image of Leon being shot. This was enough for Leon to let go of the door handle and pull the older man into his arms.

"There now" Brad said happily, a huge smile on his face. Chris wrapped his arms around Leon and gave him a quick kiss before glaring at Brad.

"Alright Bradley, don't milk it" He warned teasingly. He gave Leon another kiss before releasing him from his hold. "Let's get this done. We're nearly at the Tyrant's lab now and since he wasn't here, that's the next obvious place he'd be. If he's not there then I'll accept that he's dead and we can have this place destroyed"

"Yeah! Let's do this"! Brad explained, pumping his fist in the air.

"Dork" Chris sneered. He nodded at the pair of them. "We need to go down those stairs we saw before we came in here"

Without any further argument from anyone, Chris trooped out of the room with Leon and Brad following closely. They made their way back to the stairs and headed straight down, their boots clanking on the metal grill of each step. The next corridor continued the grey concrete theme but this time showed signs of the explosion that had destroyed the mansion.

"There was a door here" Chris said, pointing to his right. Where once stood a set of stainless steel double doors, now stood a pile of rubble. It looked like the doorway and some of the corridor behind it had caved in, probably from the force of the blast. "It's left we need to go anyway" He added, turning left.

This corridor had also seen some damage and was now supported by some heavy looking scaffolding. There were large cracks in the concrete walls and the whole corridor seemed ready to collapse in on itself at any moment. Chris hurried down the corridor and turned right, walking past more scaffolding and directly underneath a large air vent that had mostly come away from the ceiling and was now supported solely by more scaffold poles. Chris jumped as he felt someone brush against his hand.

"Hey" Leon said gently.

"Hey there" Chris replied with a goofy smile.

"You know we didn't actually thank Brad for calming us down back there" Leon pointed out.

"Ugh, do we have to"? Chris moaned, rolling his eyes. "I think I'm allergic to being nice to Bradley. You don't want to see this gorgeous manly face disfigured by hives now do you"? He teased.

There was a loud clank following by a louder curse from Brad. Leon and Chris turned round quickly to see that he'd tripped over one of the scaffold's supporting 'feet' and had dislodged it. As he bent down to rectify it, Leon saw the air vent above him swaying ominously. Unaware of the sudden danger, Brad looked up at him and flashed him a sheepish grin. Before Leon could call out his warning, the air vent crashed downwards, bringing down a hale of concrete; which landed on top of Brad.

END OF CHAPTER ELEVEN


	12. Chapter 12

The Facility Endgame

Chapter Twelve 

"Oh my god"! Claire screamed as yet another contraction rocked her entire body. Barry had come back to the room and explained that Chris and Leon were both asleep and he didn't want to disturb them. He'd promised to check on them again in an hour or so and had disappeared from the room, saying that he would be back shortly with some more clothes for both herself and Kevin. Although Claire understood that her brother needed and completely deserved the rest, she was worried. Her baby wasn't due for another two months and although the doctors had done all they could, he was still coming way too early. She needed Chris to tell her that things would be fine. Ever since their parents had died, Chris had been the one stable person in her life, the one who'd always been there to tell her everything would be ok.

She moaned in discomfort as Kevin gently stroked her sweat soaked forehead. She loved Kevin deeply and with all her heart but he would never be able to take the place of her beloved brother. He was doing his best to comfort her but he was tired too. She knew that his eye was causing him a lot of pain. His face was pale and drawn and there was a large black bag underneath his uninjured eye.

"Kev…you should try and get some sleep" She said, feeling her body relax as the contraction ebbed away.

"No way sweetheart" Kevin kissed her forehead. "I'm staying her with you. Those contractions are getting closer together. Hey, we haven't even thought of a name for him yet"

"I promised Chris his middle name would be Christopher" Claire replied, gritting her teeth as she felt the beginnings of another contraction.

"Poor little mite" Kevin gently teased.

"Yeah, it's bad enough luck that he's got you as a father" Carlos added with a smirk. Jill rolled her eyes and continued to fuss with the bunch of flowers that she'd bought at the hospital shop.

"Where's Maverick"? Ginny asked. She was playing with a chocolate bar wrapper, tying it into a neat bow. She wouldn't admit it for the world but she was feeling sort of bored.

"That's a good question" Jill said, frowning. "Where is Brad? Barry didn't say anything about him being in Leon's room…"

"Do you think he's gone to New Arklay"? Ginny said innocently. "I heard Barry talking about it…" She stopped abruptly as four pairs of eyes stared at her. "I'm sorry! I know I wasn't meant to hear, but I went outside to look at the forest and then Barry and Chris came out of the house so I hid. I thought I might be in trouble in they saw me and then they were talking about seeing this guy called Wesker and I remembered that name from back at the facility" She gabbled.

"Wait a second" Jill held up her hand. "You heard Barry and Chris talking about Wesker"? Ginny nodded nervously.

"But I thought he was dead"? Claire said, her breathing returning to normal as her contraction died away.

"He is. Leon and Chris killed him in Antarctica" Kevin replied adamantly.

"Ginny" Jill gently placed her hands on Ginny's slim shoulders. "Can you remember exactly what it was that Barry told Chris"?

"Is this really the time"? Kevin asked with a sigh. He looked at Claire who was chewing her lip, looking thoughtful. "What is it Honey"?

"New Arklay…" She mused. "That's the name of the city they built on the old Raccoon City land…oh god…" She threw back the sheets and tried to climb out of bed.

"Claire, what the hell are you doing"? Kevin tried to carefully push her back onto the bed and pull the sheets back.

"Chris isn't in Leon's room"! She exclaimed. "He's gone to go find Wesker"!

"Woah, woah, slow down" Kevin replied. "Even if that's true you can't go chasing after him! You're in the middle of labour! We'll wait until Barry comes back ok? We'll talk to him and find out what's going on, just get back in bed" He said, silently cursing Ginny for even opening her mouth.

"I can't just wait…" Claire started to argue. "Shit"! She cursed, clutching her stomach. She leant back against the bed and grabbed hold of her husband's hand once more. "Another…contraction…"

0000000

"Brad! Oh fuck! Brad"! Chris dived towards the pile of rubble. There was no sign of Brad in the pile of concrete and metal. Chris struggled, starting to lift huge chunks, all the while shouting Brad's name. Leon stood back barely able to accept what he'd just seen. Literally seconds ago, Brad was flashing him a goofy grin and now, now he was dead.

"Chris…" He tried to reach out to his lover but Chris pushed him back, still scrabbling with the debris. "Chris…"

"Shut up"! Chris snapped. The sharp edges of the concrete were cutting his hands but he could barely feel it. He had to get Brad out. If only Brad would make some noise, any noise at all, he'd be able to hear him and he'd know exactly where to dig. He struggled with a large hunk of the ceiling, smearing blood across the dull grey concrete. His cut palms and aching arms screamed at him to stop but he couldn't. He had to save Brad.

"Chris, please" A hand on his shoulder made him stop his frantic movements. He looked around and straight into Leon's grey eyes, the grey eyes that were pleading for him to stop whilst echoing his own grief. "Nobody could survive that" He said gently.

Chris didn't want to nod, he didn't want to agree because Brad wasn't dead. There was no way he could be dead. He was Brad Vickers. Chris had gotten used to his sudden and constant presence, his irritating chirpiness, ridiculous optimism and his overbearing sense of doing the right thing, even his bravery, because despite never saying it to the guy, he knew that Brad was pretty damn brave to be able to smile after everything he'd been through. Brad was part of the team now so there was no way he could be dead and yet Chris knew, deep down, that Leon was right. Nobody could survive such a horrific accident. He looked at his lover, expecting some kind of rebuke. That he was a fool for wanting to carry on, for wanting to even come down here in the first place. That it was his fault that Brad was dead.

But Leon said nothing. He looked at the pile of rubble where Brad had been standing only seconds before, his head bent as if he was at a graveside. When he looked up, Chris saw the new focus in his lover's eyes. It reminded him of their time together in Africa when they'd witnessed Sheva's brutal murder. Back then, Chris had mistaken the expression for one of passiveness from someone who had ice running through his veins but he knew now that it was a look of pure determination, a need to bring whoever he saw as responsible to justice.

"Do you think he'll be with his wife"? Chris asked, his voice sounding strange in the silence.

"Let's hope so" Leon replied. He reached out for Chris' hand and grasped it tightly. It hurt because of the cuts but Chris was grateful for the contact. "We'll get his body recovered by the clean-up crew" He spoke in business like tones, which a stranger would no doubt take as cold and unfeeling but Chris knew different. "He doesn't deserve to be left here". He turned away from the rubble pile. "So now we can't go back, we're just gonna have to go forward"

"We could go back" Chris replied. "I'm sure we could clear enough rubble to get through" He'd been so adamant at pressing on, moving forwards to try and find Wesker that he hadn't appreciated the danger. Here he was, years later, still as rash and hot-headed as he'd been when he'd first joined S.T.A.R.S. It was the same attitude that had gotten him kicked out of the Air Force. A single-minded cause that damned everyone else around him. Back then it'd gotten some of his Air Force buddies injured and as bad as he'd felt at the time, he'd been able to console himself that injuries heal. Never before had his reckless dedication to one of his 'noble' causes gotten someone killed.

"It's too dangerous" Leon replied, shaking his head. "We could end up killing ourselves" Chris almost expected him to add 'as well as Brad', but he didn't.

"Look…" Chris was never very good at explaining himself. He suddenly felt like such a fool. An idiot for leading the people he cared about on such a risky quest. Maybe Leon had been right all along, maybe this eye witness was just some dumb kid who wanted to get a bit of attention. Maybe they'd seen Miller and jumped to the very same conclusions he had. He kept being haunted by images of Leon being hurt so why had he been so determined to put him straight back in the firing line?

"What's done is done right"? Leon interrupted, clearly understanding that Chris was flailing. "Let's just find another way out of here" He nodded in the opposite direction of the rubble, obviously wanting Chris to continue leading.

Although it was only a few seconds or so, it seemed like Chris took forever to turn his attentions away from the rubble pile and back to the corridor. Leon felt his stomach turn as they walked away.

"We'll come back for you Brad" He muttered. Just like Sherry, Brad hadn't deserved to die and there was no way Leon was going to leave his body to rot in an Umbrella hell hole.

Chris was quiet as he walked along the corridor, turning to the left when they came across yet another set of double doors. A red triangle was painted on the floor with a lightning bolt in the middle. Leon figured that the room beyond had to be some sort of generator or power room, probably to supply the entire estate. Chris wordlessly pushed these doors open and Leon watched his boyfriend's hulking figure walk through them, his body language screaming defeat. He knew this Chris, this was the Chris that smoked away his stress, drank away his pain and never spoke a word of it to anyone. He wanted to reach out but he knew from his own bitter personal experiences that there was nothing anyone could say or do until Chris allowed himself to realise that Brad's death wasn't his fault.

Through the doors was a T-shaped corridor with hospital-like markings on the floor directing them to the operating room and power house. A third marking was labelled with the letter 'E' in a neat circle. Leon assumed that this marking led them to elevators. The operating room was directly to their left and clearly marked which made the marking seem somewhat redundant. Leon waited for Chris to mention this, maybe to make fun of it, but he didn't. Chris didn't seem to be up for noticing much. He was obviously running on autopilot, barely taking anything in, letting his memory of the layout guide him. Leon's hand twitched above his gun. Since Chris was obviously somewhere else, Leon was going to have to be on extra high alert. Since they'd gone through the last set of double doors, an uneasy feeling had washed over him. He felt as though they were being watched.

It reminded him of the city streets, filled with blood and gore, the undead waiting for him alone and in groups, watching him with dead eyes as he tried to escape. It reminded him of the facility in Spain, wandering the halls with nothing but a biro in his hands knowing that Krauser was watching him all the way. He was glad that Brad had had the foresight to bring the Silver Ghost. Thinking of Brad brought back another familiar pang. He shook his head quickly. He couldn't get caught up in that mindset. He needed to concentrate for both of them.

They turned left when they reached the 'T', following the 'E' markings just as Leon had expected.

"I keep expecting to hear his voice" Chris stopped walking suddenly. "Y'know, saying something annoying, something crap" He sighed heavily and leant against the cold, concrete wall. "I was getting used to him being around. All that bullshit I said to him. I didn't actually mean it" He thumped the wall in frustration. "Not just now. I always gave him shit. He was the fall guy, the butt of everyone's jokes. And then the mansion…he just bailed on us and it was like everything that I'd ever joked about him being, was true. He came back to rescue us but the damage was done. He had no fucking clue what we'd been through, what we'd seen and what we'd had to do. God, I fucking hated him" He shook his head in disgust at the memory. "To make matters worse, he just disappeared afterwards. The rest of us wanted to fight, wanted justice for our friends that had died in there and he just ran…"

"Because…" Leon spoke up.

"I know why now"! Chris snapped. "He told me back at the facility. And you wanna know what I did? I said nothing! I always thought he was just a piece of shit chicken heart and it turns out he was the bravest one out of us all. Sure we'd all lost things, our homes, our jobs, our friends but he'd lost his wife and…fuck…his kid. I should've told him then but it was easier to just back away from my feelings and take the piss"

"I think he knew…" Leon offered.

"I'm just done Leon" Chris looked at the floor. "Another friend has died and I'm still chasing Wesker like I've done for years. You were right. I have to let go and this has gotta stop. I just wanna get the fuck out of here"

"Then let's go" Leon replied. "Let's get out of here and get back to Barry's cabin" He felt the panic slowly rising. He was used to Chris ranting and being angry and he was used to him grim determination to get the job done but he'd never seen him so defeated and it worried him.

"You promise we'll get Brad out of here"? Chris asked.

"You know we will" Leon answered, squeezing his lover's hand tightly.

"Let's get the fuck out of his hell hole"

0000000

"I can't believe he'd be that stupid"! Jill spat as she paced the corridor outside Claire's room. Claire's contractions had sped up and her doctor had dismissed everyone but Kevin from the room as he was certain the baby would arrive within the hour. Jill, Carlos and Ginny had retreated to the hard plastic chairs outside and were determined to wait it out. Jill however, was too mad to sit down. "I know he can be frequently idiotic but just taking off like that? What was he thinking"?

"I know" Carlos nodded sagely. He suddenly realised what he'd said and frowned. "Wait a second…who are we talking about now? Leon or Chris"?

"Chris"! Jill shouted. She shook her head. "Leon"! She growled in frustration. "Both of them! I've half a mind to go after them myself"!

"Except you're not" Carlos said, suddenly seriously. He nodded significantly at her stomach, not wanting to say anything in front of Ginny who had had the foresight to bring along her sketchbook and was happily drawing a picture of Brad. Carlos glanced at it. She'd drawn Brad as a pilot, similar to the way Tom Cruise's character dressed in the movie Top Gun. Judging by the way she was drawing him, she was using a hell of a lot of artistic license.

"I hate just sitting around"! Jill moaned, folding her arms across her chest and staring at the door to Claire's room.

"Well you're gonna have to get used to it Senorita" Carlos shrugged. "You can start by actually sitting down" He patted the chair next to him.

0000000

"So this is the place"? Leon asked, looking up at the door in front of him. They'd found the elevator and had taken it down. They stopped at a corridor that turned to the left and when they'd reached another set of double doors, Chris had explained that this room had been the Tyrant lab where the final confrontation with Wesker had taken place.

"I know there must be some kind of secret escape tunnel or somethin' through those doors" Chris replied, not directly addressing the question. "It's the only way he could've gotten out" He added, putting a hand on the door, fighting back the waves of sickness that threatened to overwhelm him. He'd been through a lot since he was last here but seeing the doors again made him feel like he was back in the past, scared and confused. "Will you promise me something"? He said, taking his hand off the door and turning back to Leon who was watching him with concern.

"You know I will" Leon replied. He shrugged and offered him a half smile. "Within reason obviously"

"When we get out of here…will you quit the BSAA with me"?

"Is quitting what you really want"? Leon asked. Chris' body was slumped with a mixture of exhaustion and defeat but Leon looked into his dark eyes, hoping to see some of that familiar spark still there. "I mean, you were one of the founding members…"

"I've told you. I'm done" There was no anger in Chris' voice, not even any resignation. It was the voice of someone who'd dedicated their whole life to a cause only to become tired of it. Chris sounded tired. "I just want to put all of this behind me once and for all. No-one can say I haven't done my bit. I've fought the good fight but now I just wanna be selfish. I wanna be normal. I wanna get married to you and I want us to live average lives"

"Nothing about you is average" Leon said, smiling properly at his lover. "You know whatever you choose to do, I'll be right there with you but just don't make any rash decisions yet ok? There's a lot for both of us to think about"

"Is Ginny included in that"? Chris asked suspiciously. Since returning from the underwater facility, they hadn't had the chance to have their promised talk about what was going to happen to Ginny.

"Indirectly" Leon answered. He sighed heavily, regret etched on his face. "I thought a lot about her whilst I was stuck in that hospital bed. I know we can't take her in. As much as I'd want to it's just not practical. I don't think either of us is mentally ready to be a parent"

"Sherry won't haunt you forever" Chris said gently. He reached out and stroked Leon's cheek. It didn't come as a surprise that there were unshed tears glistening in his partner's eyes.

"Just as Wesker won't haunt you" Leon replied. "And that's why we can't have her. We need to sort ourselves out"

"I can't wait to get you home" Chris offered Leon a slight smirk. He put his hand back on the doors and pushed them open. He turned back to Leon but before he could say anything else, a shot rang out and Chris let out a cry of pain. As the blood started to flower from his left shoulder, he fell backwards through the swing doors. Leon let out a strangled cry and made to follow him. The doors were suddenly pushed back towards him and they hit him squarely in the chest, sending him sprawling back into the corridor and causing him to land painfully on his right hip. Like lightning, he drew the Silver Ghost and aimed it directly at the door.

"Chris"? He shouted uncertainly. He stayed on the floor, waiting for something to emerge from the shadowy room. "Chris"! He tried again. When he received no reply from his lover, he got to his feet as quickly as he could and darted to the left, whirling round and slamming his back against the wall next to the doors. He listened carefully, unease settling in the pit of his stomach when he heard no sounds from the room. He looked at the floor and saw no light spilling from underneath it. He crept forwards, placing a gloved hand on the door, the Silver Ghost in his other hand, ready for action. He pushed the doors open, inch by inch as he crept into the room, which was now completely pitch black. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing; he'd used the darkness as an ally plenty of times before.

"Terribly sorry Mr Kennedy" A voice suddenly purred. It seemed to come from everywhere at once, making it impossible to place in the darkened room. "I suppose it was rather rude of me to slam the door in your face…"

Leon felt the contents of his stomach suddenly hurtle to his throat. He recognised that voice. It was a voice he would never forget as long as he lived. It was a voice that shouldn't even be speaking. It was the voice of a dead man. The voice of Albert Wesker.

0000000

Carlos sighed as he tossed the car magazine aside. There was only so much he could read about advance braking systems before the boredom overtook him. Jill was slumped in the chair next to him, her head lolling on his shoulder as she snored softly. She'd dropped off to sleep a few minutes ago after finally exhausting her rants about Chris and Leon. Ginny had made several trips to the nearby vending machines before succumbing to sleep herself. It was only the worry that was keeping him from drifting off was that of Jill. She'd been so fired up about Chris and Leon that it wouldn't surprise him if she ran off to follow them as soon as he closed his eyes.

It was obvious that the stresses of the past couple of days were to blame for Claire's early labour and if Jill put her own body under so much strain then she could risk losing the her baby. Their baby. Carlos smiled at the thought. Despite his initial anger at Jill keeping it from him, he was overjoyed at the prospect of being a father. He'd always seen himself as the type who wasn't interested in starting a family but the more he thought about it and the more they'd talked about it, the more appealing parenthood seemed to him. He looked down at Jill and smiled. Soon her stomach would start to swell and they'd be able to feel their child kicking as it grew. He didn't want her doing anything that would put him or her at risk…

Carlos almost jumped out of his skin when his phone vibrated against his thigh. He looked to see if his motions had woken Jill but luckily she was still happily asleep. Carlos pulled the phone out of his pocket and was surprised to see a text message from Barry.

GONE AFTER CHRIS AND LEON WITH DENNIS. DO NOT LET ANYONE FOLLOW. THIS IS AN OFFICIAL ORDER FROM YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER.

Carlos blinked at the screen. Barry had gone after Chris and Leon? And who the hell was this Dennis guy? At least the last part of the message made sense. Not that anyone was really in a situation to follow. Claire and Kevin were in the middle of their child's birth and as for himself and Jill, well, he was adamant she wasn't going anywhere. He was about to reply when Kevin burst through the doors of Claire's room.

"She's had it"! He crowed triumphantly, waking both Jill and Ginny in the process. "My son's here"! He added with a beaming grin.

"That's awesome amigo" Carlos grinned back as Jill rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"Can we go and see them"? She asked, standing up and stretching her aching muscles. Kevin nodded joyfully and Jill hurried through the doors with a sleepy Ginny in tow. Kevin watched them before slumping against the wall.

"Shit! I'm a father"! He exclaimed, as if the notion had just hit him. Carlos got up and patted him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, you're gonna have to be all responsible and everything" He replied with a smirk.

"Oh god…" He wailed dramatically.

Carlos grinned and shook his head as he pushed open the doors. Jill and Ginny were already crowded around the bed, smiling excitedly at an exhausted looking Claire.

"Oh Claire! He's beautiful"! Jill said with tears in her eyes as she looked down at the small bundle in Claire's sweaty arms. Claire, who should've looked terrible with her red hair plastered to the sides of her face and her skin shiny with sweat, looked radiant, smiling at her newborn son as he wriggled contentedly in her gentle embrace.

"He's so cute"! Ginny announced, moving closer to get a better look.

"Well who'd had thought it? Kevin Ryman makes cute babies"! Carlos said as he joined Jill at the bedside. Claire offered him a tired smile, her eyes suddenly tinged with sadness.

"Chris wasn't here to see it…" She said sadly. "Instead of watching his nephew come into the world, he's off chasing Wesker again…" There was a hint of bitterness this time as she wiped unshed tears from her eyes.

"I'm sure if he'd have know you were having him tonight then he wouldn't have gone" Jill offered as she carefully enveloped her best friend into a hug.

"And just think" Carlos added. "He's doing it to safeguard this little guy's future"

"Speaking of which" Jill said, hastily attempting to change the subject. "What's his name"?

"I don't know" Claire replied, smiling once again as she looked down at her son. "What do you think honey"? She asked as Kevin came back into the room. "Any names for Junior here"?

"Well how about we name him after my father"? Kevin suggested, approaching the bed and giving his wife a tender kiss. "How about that huh Junior"? He leant down to kiss the baby who was still squirming in his mother's arms. "Little Rusty"

"Rusty"? Carlos spluttered. Jill frowned at him and nudged him hard with her elbow. He shook his head and held his arms up, feigning innocence.

"Maybe we should take some more time to think…" Claire replied conservatively.

0000000

The room was so pitch black, Leon's eyes were struggling to get used to it. The only sound he could hear was his own breathing, pitched and fast because he couldn't believe what he'd just heard. The voice that had come from the darkness sounded exactly like Wesker's but how could it be? This had been the point he'd been desperate to hammer home to Chris. Wesker was dead. He'd killed him. Even with the powers of god knows what, his death had been so brutal, there was no way he could've come back.

Leon blinked harshly as bright light suddenly flooded the room. He shielded his eyes with his free hand reflexively, not even thinking that it could leave him open to possible attack.

"There now" The voice cooed sarcastically. "Isn't that much better? After all, I do believe you should have at least a fighting chance"

Leon's eyes took mere seconds to get used to the sudden flood of light. He was drawn towards the centre of the room where, amongst ruined computer consoles and the smashed remains of large glass tubes, Chris, his Chris, was sitting in a chair, thick ropes binding him to its steel frame. Behind him, holding a sleek magnum to the back of his head was the man who'd haunted both of their nightmares ever since Spain.

"H…how"? was all Leon could stutter out. His mind struggled to focus, to process what his eyes were seeing. The man, the magnum, the patch of dark blood on the sleeve of Chris' t-shirt…

"You seem surprised Mr Kennedy" Wesker purred. He looked exactly as Leon had remembered him. The slicked back dark blonde hair, the black sunglasses completely shielding his eyes, the black outfit that consisted mostly of expensive leather, the cold, calculating smile. "Chris here was convinced I was alive" His free hand reached down and clamped onto Chris' injured shoulder. Chris hissed in pain.

"I knew you'd find some way of coming back"! Chris yelled. "You fucking psycho bastard"!

"Now, now Chris. Is that any way to talk to someone who's holding a gun to your head"? Wesker shook his head as if he were dealing with a naughty child. "I think not. Although I must confess…I was rather hoping it would be Mr Kennedy who would feel the cold metal of my magnum" He sighed at the shame of it. "But it just happened to be you that was the first to darken my door"

"Shut up" Leon snarled, raising the Silver Ghost. He felt as though every drop of blood had suddenly turned into pure volcanic rage. Standing before him was the man that was responsible for everything that had gone wrong for him and Chris since they'd met. He could feel himself beginning to tremble in anger.

"Do you honestly think it's wise to raise your weapon like that"? Wesker shook his head once more. "You know exactly what I'm capable of Mr Kennedy" He smiled significantly, knowing perfectly well that Leon was beginning to picture their previous encounters.

"How the hell are you even alive"? Leon demanded. "I killed you"

Wesker sighed heavily and shook his head. It sickened Leon to his very core that the man seemed to enjoy the theatricality of holding someone hostage. Everything screamed at him to attack but there was no way he could do so without risking Chris' life. As usual, Wesker was playing a game and thoroughly enjoying it. Chris' brown eyes were boring into Leon's, frantically trying to send him a message but Leon had no clue what. He could feel the gun shaking in his grip as he lowered the weapon to his side. He felt as if his brain had been switched off and was incapable of rational thought. All he could concentrate on was Chris and the things that Wesker could do to him. It was why he'd gone so long avoiding personal attachments, your love for someone could cloud your judgement, shape your thoughts and create distractions. That was, of course, before he'd truly understood what love really meant.

"I suppose I do owe you an explanation" Wesker said conversationally. "It is only fair after all…"

"Since when did you give a rat's ass about what's fair"? Chris snarled, struggling with the ropes that bound him to the chair. "I don't give a damn why or how you're still alive. It doesn't matter because one way or another, I'll make sure you end up dead"

"Well that's not very nice now is it"? Wesker replied, his tone conveying mock hurt. Leon could tell that every single word that came out of the older man's mouth was winding Chris up more and more. His struggles were getting fiercer, more desperate. Leon felt helpless. His only hope so far was that Wesker would be so distracted by Chris' attempts at escape, he would able to spring a quick attack on him. He still had his combat knife. Given the correct distraction, he could have the blade sunk into the bastard's pale neck within seconds. That would create enough of a distraction for him to unleash the fury of the Silver Ghost. He'd down Wesker long enough to rescue Chris and the two of them could finish him off for good. All he needed was a long enough distraction…

As soon as the nurses left Claire alone, she started to formulate her plan. She was completely realistic in her ideals. She knew that there was no way in hell that she'd be able to go running after her stupid brother and his equally stupid boyfriend. Not only was she very sore, she was also completely exhausted. She knew she wouldn't be much use out in the field. She smiled softly at the small bundle in her arms as he slept quietly.

"No going back now" Kevin teased as he kissed her and gently patted the baby's head.

"I know. You're going to have to be an adult for a change" She replied with a grin. Almost instantly, her expression became serious. "How's your eye"? She asked, slowly stroking the white gauze that covered her husband's damaged eye.

"Still blind" Kevin joked. When he saw the expression on his wife's face, he offered her another kiss. "I'll be fine. It doesn't even hurt anymore. The way I see it, no pun intended, it was my own stupid fault in the first place. And hey, it could've been worse. At least I've still got one working eye"

"This is why I don't like you being in the BSAA" Claire said. "Any of you" She added. "It's too dangerous. You're hurt, my brother and Leon are god knows where…"

"We all made the choice to join" Kevin replied. "We're all aware of the risks but they pale into comparison when you realise that we're fighting for a damn good reason" He looked down at his son. "I don't want him growing up in a world where some psycho thinks he can destroy lives without facing the consequences…"

"Sorry to interrupt guys…" Kevin and Claire looked towards the door to see Carlos standing there, bathed in the glow of the lights from the hallway. "I need to speak to you" He added, pointing at Kevin.

"This better be good Oliveira" Kevin replied, giving Claire another kiss before following his colleague out into the hall. Carlos looked around a few times, obviously looking out for signs of Jill or Ginny, before dragging Kevin into a nearby janitor's closet.

"Hey! Woah! Slow down cowboy"! Kevin exclaimed as Carlos shut the door behind them both. "I'll have you know I've just had a baby! If you want this sort of action you need to go and see Redfield or Kennedy! I'm a happily married man! I never even experimented in college"!

"Silencio"! Carlos spat. "I need you to see this" When Kevin's eyes widened, he rolled his eyes. "My phone you idiot" He held up the device, showing Kevin the text message he'd received from Barry earlier.

"Woah…" Kevin exclaimed. "Go Barry! Kickin' ass at his age" He looked at the message again. "With a guy called Dennis"! He added.

"How are we gonna keep it quiet"? Carlos said, ignoring Kevin's statement.

"Apart from the stellar job you're doing right now"? Kevin asked. "Is that all you dragged me in here for? The girls are talking about going after Chris but you know they won't. Claire's just given birth and Jill's gotta look after Ginny. Chris will be fine because he's got Leon and Brad and now Barry and this Dennis guy. Whoever the hell he is"

"He's Leon's old boss" Carlos explained. "What we need is an excuse for why Barry isn't around because they're gonna be asking questions. If we tell them the truth they're both gonna freak out and they'll want to follow him"

"He's not infirm" Kevin replied. "He taught most of us what we know now. If there's anyone who's going to bring them all back safe and sound it's him but you do have a point. I think what we need is some sort of distraction. You'd think giving birth would be enough of a distraction for my wife but she is a Redfield..." He sighed heavily. "If Chris was here he'd be able to think of a million things to distract them"

"If Chris was here we wouldn't be having this conversation" Carlos reminded him giving Kevin a look that was so inherently Jill, it almost made Kevin laugh. "I'm sure between the two of us we can come up with something"!

0000000

"So what's your big plan now then"? Chris demanded. He'd realised that struggling in Wesker's bonds wasn't going to get him anywhere. The evil bastard had tied them far too tight to allow for any sort of escape. He'd been trying his hardest to communicate silently with Leon, to tell him to just attack but if Leon understood, he wasn't letting it show. He was standing at the other side of the room, his gun frozen at his side.

"First things first Chris" Wesker replied. Chris didn't need to see his old captain's face to know that he was currently wearing that self-satisfied smirk that Chris had fantasised wiping off. "Don't you want to know why I'm still alive"?

"Not particularly" Chris answered, shrugging in his bonds. He could see Leon's expression, the younger man willing him not to antagonise Wesker further. But that was the problem, you didn't need to antagonise Wesker. He didn't need an excuse to kill anybody. He just did because he could.

"Now Chris" Wesker tutted. "That was just rude. I think you need to learn a lesson about controlling that mouth of yours"

Chris jumped as the gun went off, barely a foot away from his head. He saw what followed almost in slow motion, as if time had slowed down to purposefully subject him to the horror. Wesker's bullet hit Leon in the left knee and his partner fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes, his body making a horrible thud noise as it hit the shiny grey flooring. Leon barely cried out in pain and Chris watched, his heart frozen, as the blood started to seep through his partner's combats, spreading like wildfire across the dark material.

"Leon"! He cried out, a pure, animalistic cry of horror.

"So, I shall repeat the question. "Don't you want to know why I'm still alive"?

"You bastard"! Chris shouted. "You sick, twisted freak"! He started to struggle with the ropes once more. Leon wasn't moving now. He had to get over to him, to stop that blood leaking out of his body.

"I see you still haven't learnt your lesson" Wesker replied. "Wasn't that always the way with you Chris? I remember back in the S.T.A.R.S office. I'd tell you again and again and you would never learn…" Wesker stepped forward. He wanted to make sure that Chris could see him as he raised his gun once more, this time aiming it at Leon's back.

"No"! Chris yelled. "Don't"! He felt his voice break. "Don't shoot him" He pleaded.

"What's the magic word Chris"? Wesker bent down so he was face to face with Chris, his shaded eyes inches away from Chris' own face. Chris wondered if Wesker could feel the hate that was radiating from his eyes, from his every pore. He couldn't resist it, he spat, his saliva hitting his former captain directly in the middle of his face. He hissed, wiping it away with a disgusted look on his face. "Filthy animal" He growled before standing up and moving over to Leon's prone body. He bent down and brushed some of Leon's blonde hair away from his sweaty face. Leon's eyes were closed.

"Don't you touch him" Chris warned. "I swear…if you hurt him any more than you already have…"

"You'll what"? Wesker mocked. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill him right now. Because you love him"? Wesker snorted. "That would be my number one reason for sending him to be with his precious Sherry. You forget Chris, you can't have attachments. Because if you do, I'll make sure they get hurt" He stood up and stamped on down on Leon's hand. Chris closed his eyes as he heard the sickening crunch.

"Tell me"! Chris shouted, fighting back waves of nausea. Leon hadn't made a sound. "Tell me why you're still alive"!

"The magic word…" Wesker teased, his boot hovering above Leon's other hand.

"Please"! Chris added. "Please, tell me"!

"Well, since you asked so nicely" Wesker smiled his slick smile, moving away from Leon and coming back to Chris, leaning against one of the nearby consoles as if they'd just settled down for a friendly chat. "You remember the events of the Spencer Mansion I take it"? he asked with a smirk. When Chris didn't respond, he continued. "I was unfortunately infected during that incident which, sadly, wasn't part of my grand scheme. Luckily, my dear friend William Birkin had provided me with an antidote to the virus although it had some rather unwanted side effects. During my recuperation however, I was able to perfect something I'd been working on for years. I believe the key to any successful venture is to have a hobby, wouldn't you agree? Something that you can use to unwind when the stresses of your demands prove to be too much. My little hobby was cloning. It was something I'd toyed with throughout my early years at Umbrella but it had never really taken off. However, during my recuperation, I was finally able to give it the attention it needed and I was successful"

"You created a clone"? Chris interrupted. He felt the blood in his veins turn to ice. He glanced over at Leon who was still bleeding heavily and showing no signs of coming around.

"Congratulations Chris" Wesker lightly applauded. "It seems you do listen sometimes. Yes, I created a clone and what a clone it was! Perfect in almost every way. Indistinguishable from the real thing! I say almost perfect. There was one drawback to my masterpiece. I'm sure by now you've guessed that I cloned myself"

"Well who else would you clone"? Chris snorted. "You're so far up your own ass you probably got a hard on over another version of you. Hell, you probably fucked it. The only person ever good enough for Albert Wesker, Albert Wesker" He needed to do this. He needed to talk back, to smart mouth the man, to do something other than sit in his bonds begging and pleading with him. Wesker was doing his level best to break him but Chris wouldn't let him. He wouldn't let him kill Leon either. He needed to be strong and brave, like his lover, like Brad. If they could do it, he certainly could.

"And so your mouth continues to get you into trouble" Wesker lightly tapped the muzzle of his handgun on the palm of his gloved hand. "What shall I do this time hmm? Should I take a knife and slit his throat? Should I slash his pretty little face to shreds? Or perhaps you'd just like to apologise to me? Yes…" Wesker smirked. "Wouldn't that be something? Chris Redfield apologising to me. Yes, I think I'd rather like to hear that" He leant against the damaged console once more, he holstered his gun and took out a large, serrated combat knife with a snake engraved at the base of the blade. A perfect image, Chris thought, as Wesker nonchalantly began to polish it with a small cloth he produced from the belt around his waist. Chris felt his stomach turn as he imagined the older man sinking that sharp blade into Leon's pale flesh. He could see it as clear as day, the vivid lines of red that would appear, marring his perfect skin. Chris fought to keep the contents of his stomach in check.

"I'm sorry." He muttered. Saying it felt almost like a physical blow but it was nothing compared to how it would feel to watch the man slowly mutilate his lover.

"Excellent" Wesker sheathed the knife quickly, almost as if he'd been planning to do so all along. "The drawback to my clone" He continued as if there hadn't been a break in the conversation, as if he hadn't just threatened to maim someone. "was that he was still infected. He developed insanely super human powers which were impressive but unenviable. Had I not cured myself and allowed these powers to develop within my own body, I would've become dependant on a serum that stops the virus from fully developing. A perfect weakness for someone to exploit don't you think"?

Chris felt as if his heart had stopped. Wesker's words clattered around his brain like a high speed freight train. Every time he'd met Wesker since the mansion incident, he'd had his super human powers. If the real Wesker never had those powers, that meant…Chris suppressed a howl of frustration. This was the first time he was seeing the real Albert Wesker since that fateful night at the mansion. Every meeting they'd had, everything he and everyone he cared about had been put through, it was all at the hands of some impostor created in a lab. A wave of devastation hit him. He slumped in his bindings, forgetting everything he'd previously thought about being brave. What was the point? He hung his head, staring at the floor beneath his feet. He might as well give up the fight. Wesker had played the game to perfection, this was his final, devastating blow and he'd executed it perfectly. He'd dedicated his whole adult life to defeating this man and he was still no closer to finishing him now than he was over a decade ago.

"I see the realisation has finally sunk in" Wesker's smug voice broke through the sudden fog in Chris' brain. Instead of the booming arrogance that made his veins fill with fire, it was now a dull chime that prolonged his inevitable fate, a death knell that dulled his brain and his senses. "I will however, give you your credit" He continued. "I'm a firm believer of credit where credit is due. You and your pretty boy did an excellent job of killing my clone in Antarctica. In fact, I admit I was impressed at your show of skill. I'm glad that I didn't have to do the job myself. As well as his dependency on my serum, my clone began to envelop himself with delusions of grandeur. He started to think for himself, think that his super human powers elevated him above his creator. He started to suffer from madness, having convinced himself that he was the original. You can see why I had to get rid of him. And then you came along and did the job for me" Wesker shook his head, feigning hurt. "I was saddened to see him die but it was all for the best. Having him do my dirty work gave me the time I needed to perfect my lifetime's work. I believe that you discovered something about that in Spain? I've been working on the perfect virus. A synergy of all the ones created by Umbrella and its one track minded scientists. The ultimate virus if you will. And now, I have it. Do you have any idea how much this virus is worth? How the world's terrorists will be lining up to bid for it? Millions Chris. Millions and millions of dollars. And when I've sold it to the highest bidder? I jet myself off to my very own private oasis and let the whole world go to hell"

Chris didn't respond, allowing Wesker's words to wash over him. He was facing the reality now. There was no way he could escape and he was going to die at the pleasure of his worst enemy. His only hope of salvation was lying on the ground a few feet away, slowly bleeding to death. It was almost certain that he was going to have to watch Leon be tortured before Wesker would spare them both the mercy of death. He felt his heart break at the lost future. The future he'd wanted ever since he'd fallen in love with Leon. He would never marry his lover, never seem him grow old, never live the normal life he'd wanted for so long. God, he wanted to cry but he would never give Wesker the satisfaction of knowing that he'd succeeded in breaking him.

"I suppose there's little else to say" Wesker continued, obviously not bothered by Chris' sudden lack of responses. "There has been one thing niggling me for a while now and I do feel that before we finally part ways that I need to get it off my chest. I'm sure you remember the mansion in Antarctica? The one I had my clone make especially for you? And I'm sure you remember one of the extra special additions? My lovely hallway incorporating my gallery of photos of your time in Spain? Do you remember one photo in particular? Taken in the hospital? Yes, I was watching you. I saw how seeing that picture of your precious boyfriend made you lose it. It really got to you didn't it? I mean, what a horrendous thing to try and comprehend. Your boyfriend, laying in a hospital bed, at his most vulnerable and someone sneaked it and took a photo of him. I bet you've always wondered who that was. Well Chris, it was me. Oh, it was easy enough. I told those idiots at the hospital that I was his older brother. They let me in and there I was. Free to do what I liked" He stalked forward and grabbed hold of Chris' chin, forcing him to look him in the eyes as he continued to explain. "He behaved impeccably. Laying there nice and still while I lifted up those sheets, drew back that flimsy gown…"

A shot rang through the air and Wesker suddenly released his tight grip on Chris' chin. Chris watched in confusion as the older man reeled back in pain, clutching the top of his arm. He almost crashed into a nearby console but managed to recover himself in time to whirl round and see where the shot had come from. At the same time, Chris looked over too. He felt his heartbeat quicken as he saw Leon, curled up on his side, the Silver Ghost lay beside him, obviously dropped after the strain of firing it. Leon's cloudy blue eyes met his and the briefest smile flickered across his face before his eyes rolled to the back of his head, unconscious once more.

Chris looked back to Wesker who was clutching his injured arm. He growled in pain and Chris took momentary joy in knowing that now Wesker was just a normal guy, that shot would hurt like hell.

"I've had enough" Wesker snarled, grabbing his gun. "I'm going to kill your little pretty boy and I'm going to enjoy every second" He stalked over to Leon's prone body, his boots tapping on the flooring. Chris' gaze stayed frozen, unable to look away as Wesker pressed the muzzle of his handgun into Leon's temple.

END OF CHAPTER TWELVE


	13. Chapter 13

The Facility Endgame

Chapter Thirteen

"So what are we going to do"? Jill asked. She was sitting beside Claire's bed, arms folded across her chest in full leadership mode. Claire looked equally as focused, deep in thought. Her newborn son lay in a cot beside the bed, sleeping contentedly. "We have to get something sorted out"

"I definitely agree that it should be one of us" Claire replied. "I don't think that after everything she's been through, we should dump her on some strangers" Ginny had excused herself to go to the toilet and Claire and Jill had taken the opportunity to try and sort out what was going to happen to her. With everything that had been going on, it had been easy to forget that in the middle of it all was a scared young girl in need of a new home.

She jumped as the door opened and Carlos and Kevin let themselves in. Kevin smiled at Claire and joined her on the bed, peeking at their slumbering son in his cot. Carlos wrapped an arm around Jill and judging by the slightly guilty look on his face, he had something to say.

"There's something I need to tell you" He said, almost as if he were on cue. "Barry's gone after Chris, Leon and Brad"

"What"? Jill and Claire exclaimed in unison. Kevin flashed him a confused look and was obviously about to say something so Carlos continued quickly.

"He sent me a text message saying that he's teamed up with Leon's old boss Dennis and they've gone to find them. I didn't want to tell you at first but I think it's for the best. Barry and Dennis are both extremely experienced and I think that if we try and follow them, we're only putting ourselves and the mission in danger"

"Dude! What the hell"? Kevin cried. "I thought we had a plan"!

"Plan"? Claire asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I might as well tell you now Captain TruthTeller has decided to spill the beans" Kevin replied with a heavy sigh. "We were going to create a distraction so you two wouldn't be thinking of ways to follow Chris and Leon. I had the perfect idea! I was gonna ring the authorities in New Arklay and say there was a bomb in the forest! That way, the police would block the whole area off and none of us would be able to follow"!

"And what if the police blocked off the area before Barry and Dennis got there"? Jill pointed out.

"Didn't think of that" Kevin answered sheepishly.

"Or what if they'd already reached the forest and were kicked out by the police because of your bomb scare"? Claire added, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Didn't think of that either"

"I just figured the best course of action was honesty" Carlos shrugged, looking at Jill significantly. She nodded and offered him a small smile.

"I suppose I can rest a little easier knowing Barry's out there" Claire said. "I'm still not happy about it though and I fully intend to give that brother of mine a severe talking to. Brad and Leon certainly won't be off the hook either"! She turned her attentions to her husband. "And as for you" She rolled her eyes. "Where the hell did you get a crazy idea like that"? She demanded.

"Chris"? Kevin offered, grinning sheepishly as Jill rounded on him too.

"You listened to one of Chris' ideas"? Jill asked incredulously. She smiled as Ginny came back into the room, her arms full of candy bars for everyone.

"Well he didn't come up with anything better"! Kevin complained, pointing accusingly at Carlos who was gratefully accepting a chocolate bar from Ginny. Carlos simply shrugged as if he'd had nothing to do with it from the start. At the incredulous look on her husband's face, Claire couldn't help but laugh. She felt reassured that Barry was going after Chris and the others and it felt good to laugh again. As she looked over at her beautiful sleeping son, she prayed with all her might that he would meet his uncle soon and that he would be alive and well.

00000000

"Don't"! Chris felt his voice getting hoarse from shouting. "Please! God! Don't shoot him"! It felt like hours had passed since Wesker had pressed the thick end of the magnum to Leon's temple. The man's gloved finger was poised just above the trigger, ready to extinguish Leon's life and Chris knew that the twisted psycho wouldn't give his actions a second thought. The restraints binding Chris' wrists bit into his skin reminding him of how truly helpless he was. Leon was about to die in one of the most brutal ways imaginable and there was nothing he could do to save him. Even worse, he couldn't be at his side when he died. He wouldn't be able to hold him and reassure him and make sure that the last thing he saw was the man he loved. He wouldn't be able to press his lips to Leon's as the younger man slipped away, nor would he be able to tenderly whisper how much he loved him. It would be yet another thing that Wesker had cruelly stolen from him. The only comfort he could take from the situation was that shortly after he would be forced to watch Leon die, he would be killed himself. It would be the only favour Wesker would ever do for him. Because Chris was certain he didn't want to live in a world that didn't have Leon in it.

"Alright Chris, you've convinced me" Wesker purred with a shrug, holstering his gun as if the threat had been nothing. "I won't shoot him" He smirked down at Leon's prone body and just as he hand before, he brushed the younger man's fringe aside. Chris felt his stomach turn at the intimate touch. "It's unfortunate that he has to die. But since you won't let me shoot him, I'm going to have to come up with a different method" He ran a gloved finger down the side of Leon's face. "Wakey wakey Mr Kennedy" He crooned softly, fishing in the back pocket of his black trousers. Chris watched in confusion until Wesker withdrew a bottle of smelling salts. He waved them under Leon's nose.

"What are you doing now"? Chris said, aware of how desperate his voice sounded.

"Well, I think it would be much better if Mr Kennedy was conscious" Wesker smiled as Leon's eyelids started to flutter. He continued to stroke Leon's hair, almost tenderly. Chris could only watch on as Leon was slowly roused.

"Chris"? His lover's voice sound thick, fogged from being unconscious.

"I'm afraid not" Wesker said with mock sorrow. His hand roamed further down until it reached Leon's belt. Chris felt his heart stop as he saw the sudden flash of a blade as Wesker withdrew Leon's combat knife from its pouch.

"Chris…" Leon's head rolled and Chris found himself staring into the younger man's eyes. They were cloudy with pain and confusion and his skin was eerily pale. Chris' mind's eye taunted him with images from the facility in Spain, the last time Leon had felt Wesker's gun.

"Such an impressive knife Mr Kennedy" Wesker continued, admiring Leon's well cared for blade. "I can imagine how this would be a joy to use"

"I love you"! Chris shouted as Wesker raised the knife. It glistened threateningly in the low light. The haze in Leon's half-lidded eyes softened as Chris' words got through to him. His lips parted as if he were about to say something back. But before he could, his eyes suddenly widened and he let out a strangled, raspy cry from his throat. Chris watched as Wesker dug the combat knife into the flesh between Leon's ribs and, with a cruel sneer, twisted it. The sickeningly familiar shades met his eyes and Wesker smiled victoriously as Leon's eyes fluttered closed and his body slumped.

"I always win" Wesker muttered, standing up and kicking Leon hard in the ribs. He raised his hand to his injured arm, snarling as he made contact with the wound. "What have I always told you Chris" He turned to face Chris, his face emotionless. "I always win. You're not allowed to have attachments because this will always happen. Look at him Chris. He's dead. I killed him. I killed him because you love him and now, now I'm going to kill you"

"Do it" Chris said calmly. "Finish this" As far as he was concerned, his world had just ended.

"You have no idea how much I've wanted this" Wesker strode over to him. "How I've fantasised about this moment ever since that night in the mansion. You ruined everything that night Chris and I've made you pay" He took the gun from its holster and Chris closed his eyes. He refused to picture his dead lover but tried instead to picture the good times. He remembered the times they'd made love, or the times they'd sat down together for a meal or the look on Leon's face when he'd proposed. He wanted his last moments of life to be filled with his lover. He heard the click of the gun as Wesker prepared to fire. He closed his eyes tighter and mouthed 'I love you', ready to be reunited with Leon.

He heard the gun fire and felt nothing. Was this what death was like? Was this what it had been like for Leon? He'd expected it to be painful. He jumped, startled when he felt something heavy land on his legs. Surely that wasn't right? He opened his eyes and found that instead of some other world place, he was still in the Tyrant lab and the weight that had landed across his lap was the body of Wesker, sprawled out, a neat hole in the side of his temple, slowly trickling blood. For one brief moment, Chris' heart soared. He looked over at where Leon had fallen but his lover hadn't moved.

"Chris"

Chris looked over at the doorway and let out a gasp when he saw Brad standing there. His former colleague looked terrible, bruised and battered, blood running down his forehead and cuts peppering his face and arms. More alarmingly, was a short length of pipe sticking out of his abdomen. He was clutching another, longer length of pipe, leaning on it heavily like a crutch.

"Brad"!

"Hey…" Brad replied, his voice raspy, his breathing wheezy. "Managed to climb out…" He hunched over, gripping his side. Chris could see that his hands were wet and slippery with blood. "I'll untie you" He added. Leaning heavily on the pipe for support, Brad half walked, half shuffled over to the chair. Chris could hear his laboured breathing as he struggled with the ropes and he knew that his friend was on borrowed time. As soon as he felt the ropes drop, he pushed Wesker's body from his lap, freed his legs and stood up, torn between helping Brad and running to Leon.

As it happened, Brad made the decision for him. He wobbled dangerously and Chris only just managed to get him seated in the chair in time. He leant heavily against the wooden back and it was then that Chris noticed the fine trickle of blood that was coming from his friend's ear.

"You owe me yeah"? Brad said quietly, a brief smile flickering across his face before he suddenly slumped forward in the chair, his shoulders no longer heaving from the exertion of breathing.

"Brad…" Chris touched his friend's still shoulder. He would be forever grateful for Brad's final act of bravery. He gave his shoulder a squeeze and made a silent vow to find a suitable resting place for one of the bravest men he knew. He narrowed his eyes as he turned to face Wesker's body, slumped on the ground, the blood still flowing from the gunshot wound to his head. He had no need to check the vital signs, with no powerful virus running through his veins, Wesker was no match for a bullet to the brain.

Ignoring the urge to pump a few of his own bullets into the body, Chris side stepped his fallen captain and rushed over to where Leon lay. His lover's eyes were closed and he wasn't moving.

"Leon…" He felt sick as he brushed Leon's blonde hair from his startlingly pale face. There were no signs of life. "Baby…" It didn't seem fair. Not after everything they'd been through together in such a short amount of time. It hit him like a tidal wave. Everything that he'd been hoping for, all of his dreams, his ambitions and his plans for their future were gone. This was the man that he'd wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Now what was he supposed to do now? He knelt down beside his fallen lover and traced his calloused thumb across Leon's soft lips.

He looked up quickly as he heard the doors burst open. Barry and Dennis stepped forward, guns raised. Chris saw the looks of horror drift across their faces as they took in Brad, Wesker and finally Leon. He couldn't be sure, but Chris thought he heard Dennis swear. Chris stayed knelt in his strange new funk, his attentions returning to Leon. Maybe if he didn't move everything would be alright. Moving, standing up, walking away, it would mean he would have to accept Leon's death. If he could stay, touching his lover, running his fingers through his hair, kissing his pale cheek, then maybe, just maybe, everything would be ok.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and it snapped him cruelly back into reality. He closed his eyes, waiting. Barry knelt down beside him.

"Come on Chris, let's get you home"

00000000

Six months later…

"You will hold him properly won't you"? Claire asked with concern as she handed her squirming son over to Chris. It was a glorious day in terms of weather, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was beating down, illuminating all of the stained glass windows in the church and dappling the grass of the well kept graveyard through the overhanging willow trees.

"No Sis, I'll drop him" Chris replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm not totally irresponsible y'know" He added, taking his nephew under the armpits and holding him above his head. Claire wasn't a particular fan of this game but Chris knew the kid loved it. As if to confirm this, the baby laughed uproariously. "He may be a Ryman in name but he's definitely a Redfield"

"Well if he starts to get fussy…" Claire began.

"I know, I know" Chris cut her off. "Look, this is important ok? And I thought you were going to let me do this on my own"? He nodded significantly at the gravestone that stood barely a yard away. Claire's fretful expression suddenly disappeared. A sadness flickered across her face but she finally settled for a solemn one. She kissed her son lightly on the forehead, squeezed Chris' shoulder gently and moved away.

His nephew's christening should've been a happy event and for his proud parents, it had been. For Chris, his loving uncle, it had been bittersweet. He approached the immaculately cared for gravestone. He could already feel a lump in his throat. As if sensing his uncle's suddenly change of mood, the baby in his arms stilled.

"This doesn't get any easier" Chris muttered as he faced the marble stone. "I don't even know what to say…it all seems so obvious…hell, I miss you and wish you were still here and I feel like a dick for talking to a fucking stone when I just want to talk to you. It's like, there's so much I never said…"

"Don't swear in front of the baby"

"What"? Chris wheeled around quickly. "How the hell do you manage to do that"? He demanded.

"Well I was in the Secret Service" Leon replied with a smile. He patted the baby on the head. "Hey Jace, I hope you're not letting Uncle Chris corrupt you"

"I don't get how you manage to still sneak around like that" Chris continued, giving his lover a quick kiss on the forehead. "They give you some sort of ninja bionic knee when they replaced it"? He asked, nodding at Leon's knee.

"No" Leon grinned, leaning on his walking cane. "I'm just not a heavy footed oaf like you" He nodded towards the grave. "So have you told him yet"?

"I was about to" Chris answered, turning back to face the grave. He leant Jace against his hip as Leon took hold of his hand. He squeezed back gratefully. Sometimes, even though months had passed, he'd find himself just reaching out to touch Leon, to make sure that he was still there. He'd come so frighteningly close to losing him. Leon had been in the hospital for two months, enduring numerous operations and for a long time, there had been no certainties, that'd he walk again, that he'd even live. And when Leon had gotten over the worst of all, it had made Chris even more determined to marry him. So, two months ago, with Leon still using a wheelchair, they'd married at this very church, surrounded by friends and family. Brad's death had forced everyone to refocus. Jill and Carlos had put their problems behind them and were planning to marry as soon as she'd had their baby. Barry and Kathy, their own children having flown the nest, had given Ginny a home and she was settling into her new life well. Claire and Kevin were adjusting to being new parents and Chris, despite his initial reservations, had stayed in the BSAA with Leon but strictly in consulting roles with no fieldwork.

"Do you want to be left alone"? Leon asked gently. Chris had taken Brad's death hard and it had taken weeks of therapy for him to be able to open up about it. Having been resistant towards therapy for so long, Leon was proud of his husband for finally admitting that he needed it.

"You're not going anywhere Kennedy" Chris replied, tightening his grip on Leon's hand. "I feel kinda dumb talking to a stone…" He sighed heavily. "I just wanted to come here to let you know about the christening" He said, addressing the headstone. "Claire promised that I could give the baby a middle name and I was gonna go for Christopher but he's going to see enough of me so I figured I'd name him after his brave Uncle Brad. So yeah, he's here with me now. Jace Bradley Ryman. He's gonna know all about you, I promise"

"I'm proud of you" Leon said as Chris turned away from the grave, hugging Jace to his chest. He gave his husband a kiss and ruffled Jace's red hair. They walked away together, Leon leaning against Chris for support as they moved through the grass. Jace babbled contentedly and for the first time since he could remember, Leon felt a genuine feeling of peace and calm wash over him. It had taken the both of them years but finally they were in a place where they could be happy together. "So" Leon continued, nodding at Jace with a smile. "How about we get ourselves one of these"?

THE END


End file.
